Story of a Firefly
by ThereNBack
Summary: Yuu Hotaru is a smart girl and dumb girl. She knows the books, but she can't walk the walk. When her mother gets a new job and she's placed on a temporary team with a knuckle head and a dog boy, she might just have to learn. KibaXOC NaruXSaku
1. Chapter 1

**So everyone, this is the great reposting of Story of a Firefly. I know that I haven't really updated anything in a long while, but school has actually gotten really hard this year and other pressing matters have blocked my ablity to sit down and write.**

**I would like you to know that I will be updating this once a month to give me and my new beta (ScarsofTime), who by the way is awesome, time to get everything done. So expected the next chapter around the end of next month.**

**Other news, if any of you liked Cheating Life I have another awesome beta working on that (MisterJack), the reposting of that will be coming up soon. **

***sighs* Alright you guys. I really hope you like this version so much better than the original. *waves* Until next chapter!**

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><p>I don't know if I should be ecstatic or not. It did not seem at all like a major thing when my mother first explained how we were moving. I would be moving to a new home, and in turn, a new village. I will not say I am scared because I am a shinobi. Shinobi do not show fear. They do not feel sadness for leaving their friends. I am not infuriated at my mother for even thinking of moving. I am a great shinobi. I do not have emotions. And most definitely shinobi do not cry.<p>

I burst into hysterical sobs as I hug my best friend. "Wow, the mighty, emotionless Hotaru is crying!"

I slam my fist into Temari's shoulder, glaring at the older girl. "Will you keep your comments to yourself? I have had enough of this moving experience."

She rolls her eyes at me as I let out a huff. I stare at the train, irritated at my situation once again. "Then stay, firefly!" Kankuro moves from his place next to Temari to pull me into a rib crushing hug.

I push on his chest giving him the signal to let me go because I need air to breath. I look up at him sadly. "You know I cannot do that, big bro." My eyes narrow a fraction at the grammar I used, but let it go when I see a smile on Kankuro's lips.

Kankuro has been nothing but caring since I met him, which was about a year and a half ago when I was about eleven years old. He has become the brother my mother never gave me. She is still too interested in her art to find me a father figure and therefore, I could not have any type of a brother.

"You know what?" Kankuro leans down to level our eyes and whispers, "I am going to kidnap you and bring your sorry ass back here! You can't go and live in that green village! It will be like Christmas for your hair all year-round!" He begins to laugh as I glower at him for making an unnecessary comment about my red hair.

After a moment of his laughter, I get a beautiful idea. "There are two things that can happen if you kidnap me, Kankuro." I tell him in a light and airy voice, "You can get caught by the Leaf village ninja and get tried for attempted kidnapping, or I can tell your father about the thon-"

He covers my mouth, so on-lookers cannot understand what I was about to say. Temari raises an eyebrow at Kankuro's actions, but does not say anything to stop him. "You will not ever speak of that, not even to those green elves that live in your new village, or I will kill you and-and put you in a jar and leave you in the basement for the rest of eternity!" I roll my eyes at the pathetic threat and lick his hand. He removes it swiftly. "Gross, firefly."

The train whistles, signaling that it is leaving in three minutes. "I will write to you, I swear!" I smile through the tears, hoping I don't look as weak as I feel. I am a kunoichi for Kami's sake!

I step on to the trains steps, looking at my two friends. Kankuro looks heartbroken and Temari offers a cheerless expression. "I'm sorry Gaara didn't want to come and see you off." She checks around the boarding area one more time, hoping for the anti-social boy to show up, but to no avail.

"Temari, stop worrying about that. We both know he does not like to be outside in front of people." She gives me a sigh, turning to Kankuro.

Both do not notice my smile as I look up to see a lone figure standing on a roof top. I can understand his anti-social way of life, but it still hurts that he will not give it up for a few moments. _'I will win your heart next time, dear Gaara.'_

I wave to the pair through the thick glass window. Temari continues to wave with tears falling as the train begins to roll away. Kankuro, being the spontaneous one, runs to the end of the platform, waving wildly.

I walk down the gray aisle of the train searching for my mother's blond hair. I find her sitting in the window seat, watching the sand. She looks up at me when I sit in the seat across from her. She notices my tears and smiles.

"Why are you smiling, mother?" I ask.

"It's nice to see that you have some emotions, babe."

I glare at her for saying my least favorite nickname that I have acquired over the years, but she does nothing. I sigh, wondering why she is the pain in my neck and not the other way around. I lean back in my seat, closing my eyes to think back to one of my first memories of Suna.

"_There's mommy," I draw a stick figure __in__ a dress using a rock that I found nearby. "Hm, where's Hotaru?"__I draw myself as a smaller version of my mommy stick figure. __I turn my head to 'look' at Ryuu-__nii-san. __ "Look Ryuu-__nii-san__! It's our family!" _

_Then I hear scratching in the sand and stare at it in awe. I cannot believe that the sand is speaking to me! __"No one is with you.__ Who is Ryuu?" it scrawls to me._

"_He's my brother__, that's__ who!" I yell at the sand.__ I did not know any better, I was five and my mother refrained from telling me about the monster that lived in Suna._

"_But you are alone." __The letters appear like magic, making me entranced.__ If I had been a better kunoichi back then I would have noticed a boy with a teddy creeping closer to me._

"_Who are you?" I yell__,__ turning around at that moment searching for something or someone. __The sand is not supposed to talk. __My eyes widen when I see a small boy with blood red hair. __He has deep moons under his eyes and pale skin__,__ reminding me of a vampire in a movie I was not supposed to watch. __I feel the urge to run, but my curiosity is pushing it down and away from the __forefront__ of my mind. _

"_I am Gaara." __He stares at me with a sad expression mixed with, what I believe is, hate.__ I know a normal child would have flinched away from the tense air around him, but I am too naïve to take any notice._

_I extend my hand and walk forward towards the boy, but instead of him reaching his hand out to meet mine, sand rises up and swats it away. __Not a moment later, the sand pushes me a good five feet away. __I fall on my __backside__ and yell, "Hey! That's not nice!__ Didn't your mom tell you not to push!"_

_This was directed at the sand, not knowing it is actually __Gaara's__ doing. __"My mother is dead."_

"_You pushed me? __But you're all the way over there. __How could you have?" __I pout, wondering how this boy could have done it…_

_He seems amazed at something, but being young as I was I did not know it was because I had not ran away yet. __So he tries to get me to stay as long as he can.__ "It was the sand, my mistake."_

"_I feel really sorry for you. __The sand must hate you. __It keeps everyone away from you. __The sand is very mean." __I stomp my foot on the ground, angry at the sand for being so mean to this seemingly nice boy._

"_Only people that it thinks are going to hurt me." __He stares at me__,__ curious. __He doesn't understand why I am not scared of him. _

"_How on earth could I hurt you? I don't even have any weapons on me!" __I scowl at him.__ I know I am a pretty well rounded little kunoichi, but not so deadly as to bring weapons with me everywhere__,__ or smart enough yet._

"_Well, what were you going to do to me?" __He gives me another confused look._

"_I was going to pet your teddy bear!" __I smile at him as if it was plain as day before and take a step closer. __Then another__,__ and another, until I can reach my hand out and touch the __bear's__ head and I whisper, "He's so soft!"_

_Gaara stares at me in awe. __I smile happily at him. _'Maybe he and I can become friends! My first friend! Well, not counting Ryuu-niisan.'

_I was the first person to get that close to him after his uncle __attacked__ him and I am probably the last._

I knew I liked him more than a friend when I turned ten. I just learned that I love him now at age twelve.

He would only see me in secret for reasons I did not find out until I met his sister when I was nine. She was two years ahead of me, but that did not stop us from being good friends.

I knew nothing of his past until Temari starting telling me about her two brothers. Both were the opposite of each other: one anti-social and merciless, the other more social than he should be and a ladies man.

I did not know that she was actually related to Gaara, since all they share is their pale skin, which I should have guessed because not many people are pale in Suna. I found out their relation when I spent the night at their abode for the first time. I had woken up in the middle of the night for a drink of water and found him walking down the hallway; I nearly let out a laugh when I saw his shocked expression. We did not speak a word to each other, but only because there was nothing to say. Yes, he may have not been happy about me finding out about his heritage but, he knew I would eventually.

I knew Kankuro from my history class. Apparently, he had failed it the year before and needed to retake the course. He was placed next to me in the classroom, so if he missed a day, which he did often, I would be able to give him correct notes to study.

At first, I loathed him for his laziness and his many absences. He also cheated a lot in the beginning, though as time went on he started to come to class more and cheated less often. After a while, we started to actually become good friends. It is around the same time I became friends with Temari, and I stopped giving him the 'cold shoulder,' as he put it.

I have known Temari and Kankuro for about three years and Gaara since I was five, and now I have to leave them all behind to go to a new village.

"Mother." I poke her shoulder, jerking her awake. She rubs her hand around her mouth getting rid of the drool that slipped down the side of her mouth.

She looks over to me with a mildly angered expression. "What?"

"We are nearing where Tsunade oba-sanis staying," I murmur.

She scratches her head, revealing a tail of blue hair. "What time is it?"

I take out my flower key chain watch. "Around three pm."

She sighs as we enter the crowded train station. She grabs our carry-on bags because our larger luggage will continue the trip to Konoha without us.

We exit the train in the large crowd that wants to go to the same city as us, Okazaki. I take my bag from my mother and sling it over my shoulder, gawking at all the people. Suna had many citizens because it is the capital of Wind Country, but that is nothing compared to the amount here.

"Stop acting like I never take you anywhere," my mother jokes, knowing full well that I have never set foot out of Suna.

Instead of making a snide remark, I let my face turn to a bored expression.

We travel through the town quickly, not wanting to get too distracted by the many shops that line the street. If it wasn't so loud I would have to say that all the hustle and bustle is, in a way, beautiful. It is like a hive of bees, everyone going about their business in a hurried fashion.

"First we look for Shizune or Tonton and they will lead us to Tsunade." I nod my head in agreement. I have met my aunt a few times, but each time she looks a different age. However, I believe that comes with being the best medical ninja in the world.

"Are you sure we will be able to find her? There are many gambling places here." I scratch my arm, worried that we will waste a whole day to try and find my sucker of an aunt.

My mother rolls her eyes at me. "Stop worrying about wasted time. We have plenty of it."

Once we enter the gambling part of town, I relax a little, happy that most of the places are close to each other: a magnet for Oba-san.

We strain our necks as we try to look over all of the slot machines and people. We sigh every time she is nowhere to be seen.

We finally find her surrounded by men in a bar. Shizune and Tonton are just onlookers in the scene.

"Man, I haven't seen such knockers on a lady in a real long time!" a black haired man exclaims while staring down Tsunade's revealing shirt. I tug on my jacket, hating that I am an early bloomer.

"Look down my shirt one more time, I dare you," Tsunade says in a gruff voice, sending a glare towards the man.

He raises an eyebrow at her as if taunting. Since I do not feel like wasting time watching Oba-san knock this man across the way and through the wall, I shout, "Oba-san!"

Everyone's attention turns to me and I feel a blush as my insecurities rise. "Ah! Hotaru! How have you been?"

I smile at Shizune as she walks over to give me a hug. "I have been well, thank you. It's lovely to see you once again." I tell her politely.

"You're always so formal," Tsunade comments. I scratch my neck, embarrassed.

"I believe being formal shows off my intelligence," I retort in a whisper.

Tsunade laughs, "I will give you that, firefly." I smile at her, hearing my mother snort. I send her a glare, but she only shrugs, waiting for Tsunade to speak again. "Let's go to my apartment. We can speak there."

I nod my head, motioning my mother to come along. Tonton follows us at our feet. I have never been fond of pigs because of their filth, but Tonton seems to be that one exception to the rule.

Tsunade opens the apartment door and we all step in. It is a very simple apartment. Two separate beds, a basket for Tonton, one full bathroom, and a kitchen. It is probably cheap because that's really all Tsunade can afford with her gambling.

"So, you both are moving to Konoha?" Shizune asks, making conversation.

I open my mouth to answer, but my mother beats me to it, "Yes, I found that many people in Konoha are stuck on themselves and love portraits," she jokes, making Shizune laugh.

I roll my eyes at her childishness. "They also seem to have a ninja program that suits me more than Suna's."

"You and your ninja things," Okaa-san shakes her head. It is sad that she still has not come to terms with my choice. I may be a novice artist that has some potential, but that does not mean I want to choose that. I want to follow in my late father's footsteps.

"Are you here for the apartment key and a letter from me to the Hokage asking to let you in the village?" Tsunade asks lazily.

"Hai," my mother nods her head.

Tsunade sighs. Shizune looks around for a bag, which probably holds the key. "Why did you pick me?"

"Tsunade, you are the only one that guarantees us in," my mother pleads. I sit back and watch, silently observing her begging. I did not expect her to resort to this, but she will do what it takes to get into the village.

Tsunade rubs her face with her hand, sighing, "Fine. But don't expect anything else from me."

Okaa-san lets out a huge sigh of relief as Tsunade motions for Shizune to give the key to me. I smile kindly at her when she places the single key in my hand. "You can make copies if you really need too, just not too many, okay?" I nod my head. My eyes drift to the scratching noise Tsunade is making with the pen against the paper.

I sigh to myself, knowing this is the final piece. I am really moving to the Leaf Village.

I wave good-bye to the pair of women. "Are we going to stay at an inn?"

"Yes, there is no point in taking a midnight train," my mother says, sounding like she needs a rest.

I nod my head in agreement.

We only walk a block before we find a nice, comfortable inn that will not make us spend too much of our money.

"How are you ladies tonight?" The hostess smiles at us as we walk in.

"Very well, thank you." I step up as my mother admires some of their sculptures. "We need a single room with one large futon." She gives me a quizzical look, but shakes it off as she looks in her books.

I impatiently pull my bag over my shoulder once more. "Ah, here's the key. I hope you have a nice stay." I smile at her, turning around.

"Mother, I have the key." She whirls around, sending her blond hair spinning. I roll my eyes and beckon her to the stairs.

We walk up the stairs silently, but hurriedly because we are both getting very tired of traveling around. When we make it to the door, we both sigh tiredly. I stick the key in the keyhole and unlock the room. I dash inside, dropping my bag and jacket at the door. I fall onto the futon, not bothering to change out of my orange T-shirt and jean shorts.

"Dear, I have never seen you move so fast in my life time."

I snicker, "You need to see me on the training field and you will take that back faster than you can say paint brush."

"If you say so." She sits down and takes all the blankets. I glare at her back, knowing she did that on purpose, but I would not use the blankets anyway. When it comes to inns, I am always way too warm.

I wake up to see the morning sun at six in the morning. It also could be my mother's snores. Either way, I am awake before my mother. I walk over to the small bathroom and look at myself in the mirror. I look at my maroon waist length hair. _'My bangs need to be desperately cut,'_ I think as I blow them out of my cloud gray eyes.

I turn the faucet on and let the water run cold before splashing it in my face, fully waking me up. I put some on the back of my neck, sending shivers down my back as the water trickles downward.

"Mother," I call, walking out of the bathroom.

"Hm!" she groans, turning over in her sleep.

I groan myself, knowing she's going to be a hassle this morning. "Mother, if we are to make our appointment with the Hokage on time you need to wake up."

"Five more minutes!" she waves her hand at me.

I frown. "We do not have five minutes. You need to wake up now!" I take the blanket off of her in one single swipe.

"Hotaru!" She screeches, turning over to look at me.

I glare at her. "Let's go."

She sits up in a huff. "You always have to be such a grump!"

We make it out of the inn at seven-thirty because my mother _had_ to take a shower. I wave to the hostess politely as we walk out of the entrance.

We walk the streets quickly so we can make the eight o'clock train. I smile at anyone that makes eye contact with me as I look around. I don't know why. It just seems like the right thing to do in a town like this. Maybe I brightened someone's day, like Kankuro does.

"You have your bag, right?" I glance at my mother out of the corner of my eye, only seeing her and not her bag.

"Yes. I have it." She points to her book bag next to her feet. I let myself breath again. It is nearing eight o'clock and I am not waiting for the nine o'clock train.

I sit in the window seat, watching the trees zoom by. "Ma'am?"

I look over to my mother when I hear a man's voice. "Yes?" she answers.

I wish I could have groaned. My mother is teasing this man. If she had chosen the kunoichi lifestyle she could kill so many people with just her seduction skills.

"Is that seat open?" He points to the seat where my bag resides. I look at my bag and then back to the man, taking in his features. He is extremely tall, as he leans against the compartment above us, and his hair is sea green with eyes that are a bit darker than my own. I look over to my mother only to find that she is raising her eyebrow at me.

I sigh and move my bag to my lap. "Yes, the seat is open." I scratch my collarbone and pull my jacket over my chest, hoping that he won't stare.

The rest of the ride is peaceful. The man does not look up from his parchment paper after he takes it out of his messenger bag. I become mesmerized by the trees that whiz by the train. I did not know one place could be so green. It is almost magical.

"Next station: Konoha!" the conductor echoes over the PA system in the train. I turn my head with high hopes that Okaa-san is awake, only to have them dashed. She even has drool rolling down her face…

"Mother." I poke her, only to get a murmur of something incoherent. "Okaa-san!" I growl at her, pleading for her to wake up. Unfortunately, she does not wake with simple pokes and whispering, so I turn to the man next to me. "I am sorry."

The man gives me a questioning eyebrow and is about to ask what for when I scream at my mother.

"WAKE UP ALREADY!" The whole train car jumps, including my mother, thankfully, because I do not know what I would have done if she had not woken up.

"What? Huh? What's wrong?" She wipes off the drool from her cheek then rubs the sleep out of her eyes.

"Our stop—" I begin, slightly embarrassed as the whole train stares at me. I believe it is the least I deserve after screaming so loudly.

But the PA interrupts me, "Konoha Station!"

The doors open and my mother gets the hint. I sling my bag over my shoulder. "I hope you have a nice day."

I look back at the sea haired man with some anxiety, "Uh, you have a nice day too." I spit out, rushing after my mother.

"Hotaru!" She waves to me as I step off the train. This station is as busy, if not more so, than Okazaki's station.

We walk through the doors that lead to the main station. It holds the stores and kiosks, and I smile at the hustle and bustle of this station. I think I am beginning to like the big city setting. "Okaa-san, do you know where the Hokage Tower is?"

She gives me a clueless scrunch of her eyebrows and I sigh.

I walk over to the nearest booth to ask for directions. "Um, excuse me?" I knock on the glass hoping to catch the boy's attention.

"Well, hello little lady!" he calls, smiling greedily as he looks down my shirt. I bite my lip and tug my jacket's sides together.

"I was wondering if I could get directions to the Hokage Tower?"

"Here." He hands me a piece of paper. "Follow these and you'll be fine," he tells me, agitated. I smile at my small triumph as I make my way to my mother.

"Let's go. I do not want to be late."

She huffs and gets up from her seat. "I know, I know."

We walk out of the station. It almost feels as hot as Suna today, but even if it is as hot as Suna, it looks nothing like the sandy red and brown buildings in Suna. I take the lead, knowing my mother does not want to read directions.

"HEY! HEY YOU!" I hear a shout over the white noise of the shoppers, but ignore it because who would call out for me or my mother here? We are new to this village. "YOU! YOU WITH THE FLAMING HAIR!"

I stop, turning around to look for the voice. My mother stops beside me, looking at the crowd with curiosity. Then I come face to face with blue eyes, blond hair, and whiskers. "Yes? Do you need something?"

"Well, I wanted to ask you a question!" I feel my face heat up at the proximity of our faces.

I breathe through my nose trying to calm myself. "Ask it but, please hurry. My mother and I have an appointment I do not want to be late to."

He backs up and scratches the back of his head. That is when I notice another boy standing next to him. The boy seems a bit short, but that could be because I am used to Kankuro's towering height. His hair is covered by his gray jacket's hood. The striking things about him are that he has a small dog, or maybe a puppy, in his jacket that is looking around as if it were human, and that he has deep red fang-like triangles on his cheeks.

"HELLO! YOU THERE? I THOUGHT YOU DIDN'T WANT TO BE LATE!" the blonde screams, bringing me back to reality.

I purse my lips. "You are very obnoxious. Do you mind if we leave now?" I turn on my heel, striding away quickly.

"Hotaru! That wasn't very nice." My mother catches up to me, breathing hard. I cannot be going that fast can I?

I roll my eyes. "I know, Okaa-san, but I am not in the mood for people like him right now."

"You're never in the mood for making new friends."

I shoot her a glare. "That is not true."

She only gives me a shrug back. I let out a sigh, knowing she is only partly truthful. When I need to make friends, I do, but when I do not, I do not even pay anyone heed.

We finally make it to the Hokage Tower with ten minutes to spare.

"Are you Yuu-san?" The receptionist asks.

I smile at the black haired woman. "Yes, my mother and I are here to see the Hokage."

She nods. "At the top." She points in the direction of the stairs and my eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. I stare at the dark corridor for a stairwell. "You better hurry or you'll be late!"

I sigh and begin the dreadful climb.

We trudge up the stairs for what seems like forever, only stopping twice for my mother to catch her breath.

Before we even come near the door we hear, "You may come in!"

I push the larger red door open to find a smiling old man. "Hokage-sama." I bow along with my mother.

I look to my mother, signaling her to give him the letter. "There is really no need for you to give me the letter. I have heard a lot about the both of you. Yuu-san, you are a very talented artist and I am proud to say, now, that you are a citizen of my village. Hotaru-chan, I have heard many stories for—"

"C'MON KIBA! YO! WHAT'S UP OLD MAN?" the blonde idiot screams as he slides in to the office. Kiba walks lazily in with his hands in his pockets. This seems to annoy the blond. "IT TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH!"

"Naruto!" the Hokage says the boy's name sternly, causing him to turn around. "That's enough yelling."

"HEY!" Naruto points towards me, ignoring Hokage-sama's request. "You're the girl from the market!" he whispers to the room as if it is top secret information.

"Naruto, will you shut up! I've had enough of your yelling!" Kiba growls at him from the door and I give the boy a thankful smile. He winks back at me, causing me to pull my jacket closer to me.

Hokage-sama sighs, "I am sorry for his boisterousness, he's always been like this. Now, let me introduce you to these two boys." He pushes away from his desk, and before he can open his mouth, the room is blasted with a loud shout.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I'm gonna be Hokage someday! Believe it!" He gives me a thumbs up as I glare at him. Is it really this necessary to be this loud?

"I'm Inuzuka Kiba, and right here is Akamaru!" The dog barks at the sound of his name, letting his tongue hang out. I narrow my eyes at the small pup. A nin-dog. Aren't they supposed to be fierce and not cute looking?

I notice Hokage-sama when he coughs. "Well, since you boys took my job—"

"I can go home now right?" I turn, motioning for my mother to come on. I do not want to stay in the same room with the blonde loud mouth and mysterious inu user.

"Hotaru-chan, I am not done yet." I turn around slowly, trying to think of the reasons why he would need to me to stay.

I scratch my neck nervously. "Does it have to do with them?" I place more venom in my question than I should have. I only notice this when the Hokage crinkles his nose.

"It has everything to do with them. They're your new teammates." My mouth drops to the floor and I am incapable of speech.

"WHAT?" All three of us get our voices back at the same time somehow.

Hokage-sama just smirks! "Why yes, Naruto and Kiba need a third on their temporary team and you need a team to join, so it works perfectly! Now, run home. You have school and training tomorrow!" He turns away from us and I stare, stunned, at the floor.

"Darling," my mother whispers hesitantly. "We need to leave now."

I snap from my trance and hurry out of the room.

The whole way to Tsunade's apartment, I cannot stop thinking of the new development. How can he do this to me? I am by far a lot more intelligent than the both of them! I pay attention to studying more than they do! Why am I not put on a team with the same people and have someone else be put on their team! I cannot be distracted by these idiots! If either one get in my way of become a chunin, I will have to hurt each of them!

"Hey! Hotaru!" I hear the loud blonde's shout and curse under my breath, knowing his apartment must be somewhere near ours. I pretend not to hear him and move my bag up my shoulder once again. "Hotaru's your name, right?"

He stands next to me, forcing me to look sideways at his face. Even if he is obnoxiously loud, he is a bit cute. "Do you need something?" I grumble, feeling my cheeks heat up a bit.

"I was just wondering where you lived since we are going to be on the same team for a little bit." He gives me a cheeky grin.

I frown, wondering how he can be so happy all the time. "I live in the apartment complex up ahead."

"NO WAY! I do too! Believe it!" He smiles. I give him a wondering look, but shake my head. If you get past the bad posture, loudness, and constant cheerfulness he really isn't all that incredibly bad.

"I do believe it because here we are."

The three of us stand, looking up at the building. It's not like the apartment we lived in before, but I believe that is to be expected because we are now in Konoha and not Suna. It is a plain, four-story gray building with a maroon roof, the same maroon as the door of the Hokage's office. "Don't give the cat lady's cat ramen."

I blink a few times, startled at the boy's statement. "Why would you do such a thing?"

He shrugs. "I wanted to see what would happen. The cat just ate it, but the lady must have thought I was trying to poison it and beat me with a broom."

I stifle a laugh, "Uzumaki Naruto, you are a very odd shinobi."

"You better believe it!" he smiles to me. I see out of the corner of my eye my mother smile with him. I let my lips tug up a little bit, but not too much that it could be considered a smile. Kunoichi don't smile.

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><p><strong>*covers head with a hard covered book* I am ready for the complaints and what not... Just nothing with fire because, c'mon, this is a book. XD<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey again! :D Here's an extra long chapter for everyone!**

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><p>There has to be a mistake! I gaze down at my school uniform. The shirt says it's a small. The same fate befell the skirt. My socks are way too long! How could this happen?<p>

"OKAA-SAN!" I screech and run out of the room, raging.

My mother is sitting on a bar stool staring at the stove with coffee in hand. "Please don't yell. I have a hangover."

I shake my head. _'I can believe she was drunk painting last night.'_ I sit down in the stool next to her, calming down, but only slightly. "Mother, did you make an error on some of my orders for school?"

"No." She takes a sip of coffee, still staring at the stove. I can see the slight smirk play her lips. I wish I could yell at her, but arguing with her is like trying to win a sand fight with a sandstorm.

Instead of saying something, I stalk off to my room, dreading putting on the clothes.

I step out of the apartment thankful that I have a jacket to pull over my shirt. I have to wear an undershirt because when I raise my hand up the shirt pulls up too, and shorts under my skirt because I do not want boys looking up it when I walk upstairs or the wind blows. Sadly, I could do nothing with the long socks! They go all the way up to my knees!

When I make it to the third floor, I see Naruto locking up his door. I tilt my head, not hearing anyone call after him as he leaves. Before I can move down the stairs, Naruto notices me and waves, shouting in his usual obnoxious voice, "Hotaru! Let's walk together!"

I purse my lips, but wait for the loud-mouth. I don't know how he does it, but he seems to genuinely care about me already. "Why do you have a jacket on? It's going to get really hot! Whoa! What do you have in there? Is it a dog?" Naruto points to my chest.

I feel my eye twitch. "No, Naruto. I am not a nin-dog user," I tell him with acid dripping off my tongue. If he makes another comment…

"Oh, well, it would have been so cool if you were! You and Kiba would both have cute little puppies I could pet! Believe it!" Naruto gives me another broad smile, making me feel like I should smile with him but, I do not.

It takes us fifteen minutes to get to the main road. We round the corner to be met by two boys.

One has his onyx hair tied up into a high ponytail with a bored expression on. His face is turned up to the inky white, blue sky. His clothes are wrinkled and his tie looks half-way tied. His pants sag because it seems that he is not wearing a belt, like the dress code has instructed boys to do so.

The other is a chubbier, auburn-haired boy. He has red swirls on his cheeks near his jaw bone and a bag of chips in his hands.

I am tempted to ask if it is salt and vinegar flavor, but the pony tail boy speaks up before I can open my mouth. "Who are you?"

I want to fall into a hole as both of the new boys look me up and down. "I am Yuu Hotaru. I was born here, but, when my father was killed, my mother and I moved to Suna."

"That's what I thought. It explains why you're so tan." Pony-Tail's eyes do not leave the sky to give me this statement. I scratch my arm in embarrassment. Is it bad to be so tan here? What if everyone shuns me because of it?

"You know it is rude not to introduce yourself first before asking for someone's name." I tell him as we continue to walk to the middle of the city.

"Troublesome…," he mutters to himself, and then turns to me lazily. "My name is Nara Shikamaru. This here is Akimichi Chouji." He waves his hands in the general area Chouji is eating. He gives me a nice smile before shoving another chip in his mouth.

"Douzo Yoroshiku." I bow to the two boys.

"Are you always this formal?" Shikamaru asks.

I raise an eyebrow and mutter, "Hai."

"Troublesome."

I open my mouth to make a comment about it being the right thing to do, when Kiba runs up with his dog in his book bag and shouts, "HEY! What's up guys?" Kiba looks over to me. I'm on the far side of Naruto away from the others. Kiba walks next to Shikamaru. "Don't you look hot today?"

My eyes widen when I look down at my jacket noticing that the opening has become wider than I wanted it to. It shows off everything! I quickly pull the sides closed again, feeling insecure.

"SO IT WASN'T A PUPPY!" Naruto screams and stops in the middle of the road pointing to my chest a second time in the hour. His eyes widen in realization. The boys laugh when Naruto begins to blush, turning away.

In my horror, I do not watch where I am walking and my shoe gets caught on a rock. I tumble down towards Earth. Before I notice what is actually happening, my arm collides with the dirt and with it my head hits my arm hard.

All the boys try to stifle their laughter, but they cannot hold it in. Kiba is the first to break, "Ah! THAT IS—" He can't even finish what he is saying because he is laughing again.

I quickly get up. With tears stinging my eyes, I race to a group of students just ahead.

Once I make it to the middle of the mass of students, I brush myself off, thanking Kami that I had my jacket on. I do not want to get my shirt dirty. The worst that came out of the fall is my knees are a little scraped, but they're not bleeding.

I stand in the group trying to look normal, but it is hard to when you have flaming red hair and the jacket you're wearing is not baggy enough to hide your features.

"Hey, boys, look at this one! She has to be new," I hear someone whisper to others in his group. I close my eyes, willing myself to disappear or have them just look past me. Though, deep down, I know they won't leave. They never leave me alone once they see me.

But, life is not fair and two boys flanked me while the leader bends over to look me in the eyes.

"Hello."

I don't respond and look around him, acting as if I could care less about his presence.

I will say this boy is not bad looking at all. He has jet black hair, which is parted in the middle, with matching dark eyes. He appears to have broad shoulders and a cocky attitude. He is not someone I would ever be interested in.

"Would you like me to show you around the school?" he inquires. "I've been here a little while, so I know my way around here, and a little girl… well, not really little…"

He trails off, looking down my jacket. My eyebrows furrow. "No. I would rather be lost than be guided around by the likes of you." As I say this the gates open, letting us in. I push past the older ninja students, trying not to hurt them or make them any angrier.

"Don't you want to know my name?"

I ignore him and walk even faster. I look up at the school and find that it is like a mansion. It looks like it has at least two stories maybe more in different sections. It's much larger than my old school in Suna. Then again, the school was made out of sand and was not that sturdy, but this school looks to be built with different shades of stone. Some large rocks and some small rocks make up a mosaic like pattern on the side of the building.

I push open the double doors and see the administration office right away. I go straight to the door trying to ignore the growing fear that climbs up my toes and coils in my stomach, much like a snake.

How am I going to get through this school year? Yes, I can probably keep my grades up here because I don't believe their curriculum is that much different from Suna's, besides the weapon-based jutsu training. Yet, there are so many boys here! I am only used to Kankuro's and Gaara's presence, and only the former talked excessively. It took me a very long to adjust to it, too.

"_You know Hotaru, you look really good today. The tan you got over break brings out your hair." Kankuro grins at me as he walks me home. Ever since we met in History he's been doing that. At first, I hated it because I felt as if he thought I was inferior to him, but he explained that's what nice guys do for girls to keep them out of trouble. I had told him to get lost because I didn't need his help, but he still came._

_I sigh and finally smile._

"_Thank you, Kankuro. You look great in your usual boiling black suit." He grins and I look away sheepishly. After a few seconds, he pulls me into something he calls a "bear hug."_

"_Finally! After three weeks! You finally say something that isn't a put down to me!" he whispers into my hair._

_I smile. I even laugh._

"_Hai, hai. I know. Now, to continue with this cheerful atmosphere, tell me about your day." We veer off the main road towards a deserted park. We come to a park bench that overlooks the swings and sit down. I lean back onto the back of the bench, reveling the afternoon sun. Kankuro puts his arms on the back of the bench, touching my shoulders and back. For once I don't mind and Kankuro seems happy that I don't._

_He goes on to explain his adventures and misadventures of his day. Most of them, I believe, he embellished to get me to laugh. I let myself relax and laugh at the silly jokes he makes._

"_Even though my whole day was pretty fun, I still have to say, walking home with you has been the favorite part of my day!" _

"_I would never guess that. Your day seemed so exciting!" He smiles at me, putting a hand on my head._

"_You're so naïve. Being with you is always more exciting and… I don't know." He taps his chin trying to think of the word, " New." _

_I give him a confused glance. "You like that I'm super smart and hate talking to immature people like yourself?" I raise an eyebrow, questioning his motives._

_He chuckles, "Yes, I love that about you. I'm just glad you finally warmed up to me."_

"_I am too." I smile. I open my arms to give him a hug on my own accord, but get an unexpected kiss on the forehead too._

As time went on we became more of friends than comrades. This in turn helped me become friends with Temari and ultimately closer to Gaara.

I push open the door, feeling the coils of fear tightening. I find a stunning black haired man listening to music as he twirls around in his chair. He hardly looks older than Temari does! How can he be working in the office already? After watching him rotate a couple of times, he finally stops and acknowledges me.

He smirks as my eyes widen, knowing I had been caught staring at him. "May I help you?"

I blink trying to tear my eyes away from his onyx ones. "I…Ah…Needaschedule!" I blurt out, wanting to scrunch up into nothingness. I walk up to the desk, feigning confidence with a smile. I hand him my papers. My hands tremble and I curse myself for being so nervous.

He looks at them and his grin broadens. "Ah, you're the new wave that's hitting the school. I guess some of the kunoichi here will have some competition for the top spot now. It seems that you've gotten high scores in all of your classes."

I smile meekly, trying to stay humble. "Will I be seeing you around the school besides here?" He hands me my locker combination, along with my schedule, with a wink.

"I have no doubt you will be seeing me again."

I bow and leave the room. I am met with a crowded hallway, students throwing papers and a sensei yelling at them. This is nothing like Suna's school. All of the students were orderly in the hallway and never threw anything at each other, besides kunai, and that was on the training field.

I look down at my schedule and see:

**First Hour**** — ****Forgery; Hatake (Room E45)**

**Second Hour**** — **** Calculations of Various Topics; Morino (Room M65)**

**Third Hour**** — ****Physiology; Yamanaka (Room M45)**

**Lunch **

**Fourth Hour**** — ****Seduction Techniques; Yūhi (Room S69)**

**Fifth & Sixth Hour**** — ****Meet in Gym **

I sigh and try to find the hallway that has the letter E written on it because that's what the guide book told me to do. A school with a guide book…who would have known.

I walk into my forgery class and find that it is filled with mostly people who seem to be about my age, which seems to be not the greatest thing.

"Oi! Face Plant!" I blush at the new nickname the dog-nin gives me. It wasn't my fault I fell. If they hadn't been distracting me it would have never happened!

"Kiba! Leave her alone!" A blond haired girl growls at him, walking from her seat to my side at the door. She smiles down at me, putting a hand on my shoulder.

Her hair is in a high pony tail with some bangs covering her face. She has the brightest blue eyes I have ever seen. The only problem I have with her is that she seems like a girl that would care more about looks and things of that sort than her kunoichi training.

"Don't mind him, ne? He's one of those loud mouth guys that picks on everyone. I can't believe we dated when we were like eight."

I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from screaming at her. She was dating at eight? Shouldn't she have been focused on basic training then and not boys?

"Anyway! I'm Yamanaka Ino! What's your name?"

I smile at her hesitantly. "My name is—" The bell rings signaling class to begin. I look around for the teacher, fearing that I could get reprimanded for being out of my seat. "Shouldn't we sit down before Hatake-sensei gets here?"

She gives me a knowing, smile and giggles a little. "You mean Kakashi? Oh, he's always late, so you have nothing to worry about!"

I frown at the statement. Isn't the sensei supposed to be an example for the pupil? He should be here much earlier than we are! I don't even like this sensei and I haven't even met him!

"Are you going to tell me your name or what?" Ino puts her manicured hands on her hips, raising her eyebrow at me.

I look at the door, scared that Hatake-sensei could walk in when I begin to talk, but I still take the risk, "My name is Yuu Hotaru." I cover up my fear with the brightest smile I can muster. I need a friend. Focused or not.

"What a pretty name! You have such gorgeous hair! And you have boobs too!" Ino's eyes narrow in jealousy and cross my arms over my chest, hating her staring at them. "Oh, don't hide 'em girl! You gotta flaunt them!" She grabs my wrist and pulls me over to some desk near the window. There are two other girls sitting next to Ino's empty spot.

One girl is staring out the window while the other reads. The former has dark blue hair cut short with two strands in front longer. She seems to be ignoring everything to day dream.

The other girl has flamingo pink hair that flows down to her mid back. She seems a lot like Ino, but a bit more studious than she. She holds her head up with her hand on her ear and her elbow on the edge of the desk.

"Hotaru, these are my two friends." Ino points over to the day dreaming girl. "That's Hyuuga Hinata. She's really quiet and stutters a lot, but she's a real good friend." She moves her hand to point to the reading girl. "That's Haruno Sakura. She's a bit of a bookworm and a nerd, but she has a fiery temper, so watch out for that."

Ino sits down next to Sakura. I stand, stranded, in the aisle way not knowing what to do. "C'mon, you can sit with us." Ino motions to the open seat next to her.

"Are you sure? I don't want to take anyone's seat…" I trail off, feeling eyes on my back. I turn my head around to find a couple of boys staring at me. I scratch my arm and swiftly take my seat.

"Ino-pig, you're not going to turn her into a Barbie are you?" Sakura looks up from her book and then at me with some concern.

Barbie?

"Well, I'll only do that if she wants me to." Ino looks at Sakura with a glare, but it quickly changes when she looks at me. She gives me a hopeful smile.

"Leave her alone. She doesn't seem like a girl to wear ribbons anyway." Sakura looks me up and down, making me want to slouch and hide. Her gaze seems so hostile when she says ribbons.

I give her a sheepish smile. "No, I'm not really. I was taught to use them to strangle targets, not to just wear them."

Sakura waves her hand at me. "See there you have it. No experiment for you."

"Shut it, Billboard Brow!" Ino growls, turning red in the face.

I begin to frown at their argument because it is a very childish one. They keep throwing insults at each other…

I nearly jump out of my seat when something hits my head. I whip around and find a row of boys laughing at me. I look down to find a paper ball laying at the edge of my seat. Naruto seems to be the one laughing the hardest, so I glare at him when I speak, "Why are you being so childish, Naruto? You should know that a simple paper ball is going to do no damage to me. If you were trying to injure me you should have at least used a pencil." Naruto blinks at me as if I spoke a total foreign language at him. I hear snickering behind me, so I look to find Ino and Sakura stifling snickers. "What? Is there another reason why he would throw a paper ball at me?"

A poof of smoke brings forth a voice with the answer to my question, "Yes, there is. And he is getting a three day detention for it."

I find that the man who created the puff of smoke is very handsome. He has spiked silver hair and dark lazy eyes. His nose and mouth are covered up by what seems to be a blue mask. His left eye is covered by his Leaf headband. Curious, I wonder why that eye is covered.

"But Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto jumps up from his seat. "Kiba did it anyway! And it's only a piece of paper! It wouldn't of killed her!"

I look to see Kiba glaring at the blonde. I feel my mouth tug, but dismiss the feeling to smile.

"I do not want to hear that right now," he waves his hand**,** lazily dismissing Naruto, who huffs as he sits back down. "Now, who the hell are you?"

I look at him confused and shocked. I have never known a sensei to swear before, let alone not know that they have a new student. My shock turns to anger in a second and I glare at the lazy teacher. "Aren't you the one with the student list?" I hear some muffled giggles from my peers.

He shrugs. "I don't want to look for it. And it is so much easier if you just introduce yourself." He gives me a lazy expression as he meanders over to his desk. He sits down in his chair and leans back, putting his feet up on his desk.

I scratch my arm as I stand up. "Ah, my name is Yuu Hotaru. I am twelve years of age. I plan on becoming a Jōnin kunoichi. I was born in Konoha, but moved because of, um, family problems when I was still a baby. I've spent my whole life in Suna. I moved back here because my mother was given a job and I felt this ninja program fit me better. Ah, Hatake-sensei is that all I have to say?" I nervously look up from the desk, feeling the stares of everyone in the room on me.

Is there something on my face? Are they staring at my chest because this shirt is too small?

I blink a few times and squint to see the title of the book he is so intently reading. 'Icha Icha Paradise?' Isn't that a…

"Wha-what are you reading?" I squeak out as my eyes widen. I point at the book, hoping that it isn't true. The class bursts out in a fit of laughter upon my question.

"What, this?" He turns the book over to look at the cover as if it isn't what it is!

"Yes! That!"

"Oh, it's just some light re—"

"PORN!" A boy shouts out. I look across the room to the boys to find Kiba holding his sides along with Naruto as he points to the orange book.

My mouth hangs open as I try to comprehend what is happening.

A teacher reading a porn book during school! This cannot be happening!

I sit down in my seat still wide eyed. After a moment, I look over to Ino for support, but I only find that she too is laughing at my discovery. "I am so—so—so-!" She can't finish her sentence because she is caught by laughter once more.

I put my head on the table, trying to hide my utter embarrassment at the situation. I should not have said anything! Now, I have drawn a lot more attention to myself than I had too!

I feel a hand on my back. I look up to find Ino wiping tears from her eyes. "Don't worry about it. We were pretty freaked out when we first saw it."

I smile at her, reassuring her that I am doing fine now.

Until the final bell, I flip through the book, half listening to what Ino and Sakura talk about. I slip out of the class unnoticed and travel to my locker, trying my hardest not to be noticed. Yet, that is near impossible for me because I have fire red hair inherited from my father.

I get lost only once trying to find the maroon locker. I dig through my skirt pocket to find my locker combination. I twist the dial quickly, but precisely, so I am not late for class.

I try two times to force the locker open, but it does not budge an inch. For the third try I throw my books to the ground in a huff. 'How can this locker do this to me? I will ruin my perfect attendance on the first day!'

"Hey, little miss!" I look behind me over my shoulder to find a tall boy with spiked brown hair, waving at me. I stop straight away, wondering if he's like the other boys that had bothered me. I pick up my Forgery book, quickly, to cover my chest. "Can I help you with that?"

"Um, I-I can do it myself." I nod my head and turn back to the locker.

"Are you sure?" He reaches for the lock, but I move my body to block his hand. It hits my arm and I feel tingles run up and down it. He chuckles at my actions and backs away.

I look at the paper one more time and turn the dial to the exact numbers. I lift the handle, but yet again the door goes nowhere. I sigh in defeat and move away from the locker. The boy takes the door handle and jiggles it three times and the locker swings open, slamming into the locker beside it.

"How…?" I look up at him, flabbergasted. How could he have known?

He smiles and messes up my hair with his hand. I put it back into place as he speaks, "About when I was your age I had the same locker and an older girl came up to me and helped me with it. I hope you keep up the tradition."

I smile up at him and bite my lip like Temari told me to. "Can I have my knight in shining armor's name?" I want to gag at how incredibly stupid I most definitely sound right now.

He chuckles and I watch his eyes sparkle, making my stomach tingle. "You're cute. My name's Shibire."

I push my Forgery book to the top self where it, undoubtedly, will collect dust for the rest of the marking period. "My name is Hotaru. Um, where are you headed?"

I couldn't believe myself! I am actually making conversation with someone I hardly know! "I'm off to my Advanced Calculations in the Field. Can I walk you to class?" I look to my right and find the door I needed.

I giggle much like a school girl and answer. "You already did."

For a moment he seems confused, but then catches on and laughs himself. "Oh, geez, you have to be pretty good at mathematics to be in Ibiki's class."

The two minute bell rings and I scratch my arm. "I've really always have been good at mathematics. It is the same everywhere."

He waves goodbye without another word and I walk into class to find Sakura and Shikamaru sharing a table.

"Ah! Hotaru! Come sit with us." Sakura waves over and I scurry to get the seat, not wanting the empty seat next to a burly looking, brown haired boy, or man. I cannot really tell what I should call him.

Shikamaru looks up from his arms and narrows his eyes at me. "Why are you blushing, Face Plant?"

I feel my face heat up even more and I am at a loss of words. "Oh, leave her alone, Ponytail!" Sakura hits Shikamaru's arm, playfully.

"Ponytail?" I tilt my head a bit confused.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru puts his head back down.

Sakura shakes her head, dismissing my question. "He sleeps through class, but still is at the top! I have no idea how he does it!"

I look back at him wonder too how he does it. I may have a natural talent at mathematics, but I still need to pay attention in class.

"Are you Yuu Hotaru?" Hands grip my shoulders roughly. I let out a squeak and my eyes go wide. What is going on?

"Ha-hai!" I manage to get out. I don't dare to look up at the man. I do not want to make him mad!

"Speak up!" he bellows.

"HAI! That is me, sir!" I yell back, trying not to stutter once more. He let's go of my shoulders and steps in front of Sakura. He bends down and stares me in the eyes. My heart rate skyrockets and I wonder what he's trying to do to me. Is he trying to frighten me out of class or something else?

"Ibiki-sensei, you're going to make her piss her pants! Just leave her alone, she's new!" I look over Morino-sensei's right shoulder to find a blue haired, sea green eyed boy, smirking over to me. I find that my cheeks flare up with heat once more.

With this comment, Morino-sensei's face turns into a broad grin. He slaps my shoulder much like a father to his son. "Welcome to Calculations of Various Topics for the fast learners! I am pleased to have you in my class, Yuu-san." He walks up to the board and as he begins to write becomes serious once more. "Flip to page 146."

"Don't worry, Hotaru, he did something like that to us the first day. He's the head of the interrogation unit, you know?"

I gulp, hoping that the rest of my day isn't spent taking almost an hour of tedious notes and barely getting the homework before the bell rings.

Sakura, Pony Tail, and I walk out of the class room to be met by Ino. She looks quite aggravated with her eyebrows raised and her hand on her hip. "Hotaru! I thought you would be with me in Seduction!"

I shake my head. "I have that next period."

Pony Tail falls in line next to Ino on the far side. Sakura pokes my side, causing me to jump a little bit. "Hey! I have that too! Don't worry we haven't gotten into anything really gross yet!" She smiles happily.

The four of us walk through the hallways. Sakura points out random boys as we go. Most of them are older and do not pay attention to us. "That's Tanzo. Stay away from him. He may look hot, but he's rumored to have raped like four girls!" Sakura whispers to me. I look over to the boy she is talking about and find that he is the older boy form earlier today.

"Hey! Little lady! Ditch those newbies and come hang with me!" he calls, waving his hand for me to come over.

"Hotaru! Did you talk to him?" Ino hisses at me.

I feel my eyes widen at the hostility in her voice, "Wha—NO! He talked to me when I first arrived! I-I ran away as soon as I could!"

"Ino, cool your jets. She's new and seems a bit shy. Why would she go after a troublesome guy like that?" Pony Tail sighs, returning his gaze to the ceiling.

Ino lets out an exhausted sigh. "Whatever Shikamaru." She folds her hands over her chest and continues to lead the group. I wonder why she is so mad about him talking to me. Does she like him? Why would she ever like a guy that's apparently raped four girls?

"This is where we eat. It's called 'the Caf.'" Ino points to a pair of double doors. Both have long rectangular windows running down the inner side to see into the lunch room.

"Calf? Ino, that's a baby-" I begin, but she shoots me a look and I hush myself. We never had a lunch room in Suna. We ate in the class rooms.

Sakura pats me on the back. "She doesn't like people questioning her, so don't take it to heart."

I nod my head as Ino pulls back both doors and reveals the whole group to 'the Caf.' The whole room is completely noisy for a second and then quiets as soon as someone takes a look at me. Then the room erupts in noise once again.

I wish I had my jacket! Why did I put it in my locker? I wish I could disappear!

We walk over to the lunch line and I hear some of what people are saying about me already.

"I heard she and Tanzo are going out!"

"What a slut!"

"Kami! Look at her boobs! Their almost bigger than Anko's!"

"Man, what I would pay to get her in bed!"

I feel my face heat up. Why are they talking about me like that? They don't know me!

"Ramen or Udon?" A kind woman breaks me from my thoughts, pointing to the two choices today.

"Ah, ramen please." I smile at her as she ladles the noodles into my bowl. "Arigato."

I grab a fruit bowl and look around for the three others in my group. "Hotaru!" I find Sakura waving at me from the exit.

I scurry over, trying to not listen to anything anyone is say. "I thought we couldn't eat outside," I whisper.

"We aren't," Sakura smiles and I find myself a bit hesitant to follow my new friend. "Don't worry. We've been doing this all year and no one has said anything."

I bite my lip, weighing my options. If she says they haven't been caught yet, there is a slim chance that it would happen now with me, but then what if my being there throws off everything?

But before I can decide not to go, Sakura rolls her eyes and grabs my wrist. "C'mon!"

Sakura pulls me towards a large tree that shades eight other people. "This is the Rookie Nine, but with you here I think it could turn into the Rookie Ten," she winks at me. "Not that that makes any sense for the teams of three, but I don't think anyone will really care," she adds quickly.

When we approach, the whole group looks at me and I feel terribly self-conscious. Most of the group is made up of a variety of boys and I feel my cheeks heat up. They're all good looking. And they're all staring at me…

"Sakura-chan! Why did you bring Face Plant?" Naruto flashes me a smile and I glare at him. Why did he have to mention the name again?

"Naruto! You baka! Leave Hotaru alone!" Sakura flies over to the blonde and whacks him on the head.

"Oi! Sakura-chan! That hurt!"

"Dobe, I think it was supposed to." A raven haired boy looks up from his obento and gives Naruto a smirk. I begin to feel somewhat awkward standing, until the raven haired boy looks up. Then I feel completely embarrassed. "You can sit wherever you want to... Hotaru, right?"

I give him a small smile and sit down where I was standing. I begin to eat my noodles in silence until the blonde speaks up once again. "Hotaru! You like ramen too?"

I look up from my bowl with my chopsticks in hand at the boy. "Naruto, will you shut up. It is completely troublesome watching clouds and listening to you."

"Shut up, Shikamaru! Just because you can't understand how awesome ramen is doesn't mean you have to rain on the parade!" He glares at Pony Tail, who is in the edge of the shade of the tree watching the clouds with Chouji, and then turns back to me with wide eyes, waiting for my answer.

I shrug. "It's alright. I would never eat it all the time because I would get out of shape."

Naruto's mouth drops open. He fish-mouths for a couple moments, before the raven haired boy begins laughing. "See Naruto, even the new girl thinks more than you do!"

"Shut up, Sasuke-teme!"

Sasuke rolls his eyes at the blonde and smiles back at me. "Ignore him. He's always this loud."

"Do you have an older brother?" I question out of the blue, suddenly noticing the similarities of Sasuke and the man who was in the administration office.

Sasuke's mood deteriorates quickly. "Why do you want to know? Do you want some of his clothes or something?" he practically growls at me.

I look at him, eyebrows furrowed and taken aback. "Of course not! I only say a man that looked vaguely like you in the administration office."

He blinks at me for a moment, before shaking his head. "Sorry about that. Most girls talk to me to get to my brother."

"That is so not true Sasuke-kun!" Sakura looks away from Ino, who she was having a conversation with, and smiles at Sasuke. "They talk to you because of your personality."

"What personality?" Naruto snickers.

Sakura throws a chopstick at Naruto, hitting him in the head. I smile only a little bit, but then take another chopstick full of ramen. "Shit! Hotaru I totally forgot to introduce you to everyone. Wow, I am such a terrible friend." Sakura shakes her head.

"No, it is alright. I gather information pretty well." I give her a small smile, but she waves her hand.

"Won't be needed. You seem to know who Naruto is." I nod my head. "He's one of the loud-mouths of the group and has a very weird obsession with ramen and becoming Hokage." I frown a bit, wondering how this obnoxious boy could ever become Hokage, but before I can speculate anymore, Sakura points to Sasuke. "That is Uchiha Sasuke. He is the most popular of the rookies for his drop dead good looks. He is also at the top for ninja skills." I raise an eyebrow curious at the tone she's using. She coughs a little with a faint blush on her cheeks. I am surprised that Sasuke said nothing because he seemed to be listening intently to what Sakura was saying about him. "That's Inuzuka Kiba and his dog Akamaru. That's our other loud-mouth."

"Hey! I am not that loud! Not as loud as Naruto, anyway," Kiba huffs and a bark sounds as if in agreement. "See? Akamaru thinks the same." My eyes widen when I see the dog pop its head out of the book bag lying next to Kiba.

"You have a dog at school?" I know I thought I saw it before, but I didn't think he would bring it to school!

Kiba looks at me as if it is yesterday's news. "Akamaru comes with me everywhere! He's quiet during school, so there's nothing your pretty little head needs to worry about."

I narrow my eyes at the smirk he gives me. Sakura, sensing the building hostility, moves on. "Next to him is Aburame Shino, he uses bugs for his ninjutsu. And the creepiest thing is they live inside his body!" I look over to the boy with a high necked coat and sun glasses. He tips his head to me and I smile kindly back at him. "Over there with Pony Tail is Chouji. The two are best friends. It's hard to see them separate." She scoots closer to me. "Oh, and never call Chouji fat. He will freak out," she whispers in my ear. I nod in understanding. "And you already met Hinata and Ino. So, that's everybody!"

My eyes widen when I see what is clasped in Chouji's hands. "Are those barbeque chips?" I exclaim, putting my ramen on the grass, shooting Naruto a warning glare, and then walking quickly over to the boy.

"Do you like them?" I feel a blush creep up my cheeks as Pony Tail stops his cloud watching and lazily looks over to me. Chouji raises an eyebrow, waiting for my answer.

"I love them! But my okaa-san won't get them because she thinks all chips are too fattening." I sigh, sadly. "Do you think that I might be able to have one? Please?" I sit on my knees with my hands folded in my lap giving him the 'puppy dog' look like Temari taught me.

"Look at that!" Kiba shouts. I look behind me and give him a curious eyebrow. "You got her on her knees, Chouji!" Kiba and the rest of the boys, other than Chouji, who is blushing, begin to laugh like hyenas.

Chouji scratches the back of his head, "Well, if you like them so much…" It becomes silent quicker than the laughter started and I stare pleadingly at Chouji for the answer. "I'll give you one." He fishes through his bag of chips and pulls one out. He holds it out to me. I quickly grab it before he can pull it back or someone else can grab it. I pop it in my mouth and smile.

"You have to tell me where you get these!"

Kiba begins to laugh, "I never knew you could be so funny!"

Naruto leans back and holds his stomach when I turn to look at him. "Neither did I!"

His laugh is truly contagious. I bite my lip, but in no time the pain is not worth not laughing. I laugh along with the boys and when I start snorting it throws everyone into laughter.

For once in my life time, I am not embarrassed by it.

Sakura and I walk the halls towards Seduction class. "I think Naruto might have a thing for you, Hotaru."

I scrunch my face up, wondering what she could mean.

I hear her sigh. "He likes you."

"He's very annoying. And I am not like him, so why in turn would he care for me?" I frown not, understanding. Yes, I know a person can like another, but I love Gaara, whom has so much in common with me.

Sakura seems to ponder this for a moment. She smiles. "Naruto doesn't care about how people are, he just likes making them happy."

"How does that mean he likes me?"

Sakura shakes her head, her smile widening to a wicked grin. "I take back what I said. Kiba likes you."

"Kiba? He's the one that made me fall today! And he's been nothing, but rude to me!" I growl at her, becoming completely furious. How can she think that?

"Hotaru, some boys express their feelings by making fun of the girl they like."

I shake my head. "That makes no sense."

Sakura lets out a laugh. "Guys aren't supposed to make sense, Hotaru."

"Ah! Sakura! Did you bring our new student?" Yūhi-sensei smiles at me. "You must be Hotaru. I am Yūhi Kurenai." She bows.

"Douzo Yoroshiku." I bow back, politely.

Sakura sets herself in the front of the classroom and I sit down next to her, fearing having to deal with a new person. Class begins shortly after.

Not many exciting things happen. Most of the class is spent discussing techniques to make sure you do not get drunk when you are at a bar with a target.

One of the ways was to push the alcohol quickly through your system with chakra. The only problem with that is you have to have an extensive control over your chakra and many girls do not have that.

The second way is to act drunk quickly, so they stop buying you drinks, not that many of them would, but they cannot believe you and then wonder what is wrong with you.

The last way we learn is the fake sip. You place your tongue between your teeth and then act as if you are swallowing. This really only works if the target does not pay attention to your drink.

"Ugh! Next week we have to start learning anatomy," Sakura groans as we both head towards the girls' locker room. I hold onto my bag, with my training clothes in it, that we picked up from my locker and she carries a small bag to replace some tattered clothes.

"Anatomy is not that hard. It's mostly memorizing," I tell her, trying to cheer her up because it seems that this subject has placed a rain cloud above her head.

She sighs. "I know. But, I really don't want to hear Kurenai-sensei talk about male body parts."

"I have to agree with you." My face is scrunched up in a disgusted face as we enter the locker room, making Ino and Hinata look at me with curious gazes.

Ino points a thumb at me over her shoulder. "What's wrong with you guys?"

"We were thinking about Yūhi-sensei talking about male body parts for anatomy next week." Both Hinata and Ino make the same face Sakura and I wore when we entered. Some other girls snicker at the faces, but make no comment.

I open my bag looking for some clothes when Ino gasps, "Hotaru! Do you have anything green?"

I blink at her. "No, why?"

All three girls sigh with relief. "Let's just say you never want to wear green."

"Is it against our school colors?" I wrap the binding tape around my torso like an expert and quickly pull out a fishnet shirt.

"Oh, no, no, it's not that," Sakura tells me as I remember Kankuro admonishing me about school colors.

"_If you ever wear red here, people will kick your sorry ass to Konoha and back. So, Hotaru__,__ promise me you will never wear red?"_

_I had glared at Kankuro before giving in to the demand._

I take out a sleeveless dress. It is black with red trimmings and Yuu in red calligraphy on the back. It is cut on the sides at my hip, so I wear a black pair of shorts. I tie my holster around my hip and place it on my right side, my dominant side. I take a hair band and tie my hair up in a messy bun on the back of my head, letting my bangs fall in front of my eyes.

"Hotaru! Where have you been hiding all of your looks?" Ino looks at me with wide eyes and I feel myself blush.

"I'm not that good looking."

Ino gasps. "Girl! Don't say that! You might even beat me in that department!" she says with some jealousy lacing her words.

I smile reassuringly to her. "I doubt it, but I am a kunoichi, so I have to look the part."

"And damn girl, you look the part!" Ino laughs and pushes me out the gym doors, and I swear to Kami that the whole gym goes silent when they see me.

My cheeks burn and I look over to Ino, who takes the silence in stride. Hinata comes out of the locker room, laughing quietly at something Sakura said, but becomes as quiet as the gym when she notices it is silent too.

"Whoa! Baby!" Someone shouts to my left. I whip my head around and regret that I did. I find Tanzo and his cronies looking me up and down. "Where have you been all my life, you sweet little thang?" he laughs.

I find my eyes narrowing dangerously at him. One of his friends notices this and looks away from me. He reminds me of someone, but I did not get a long enough look at him. "I've been making sure I don't have to look at your sorry excuse for a face," I growl. He raises an eyebrow and I hear the girls laugh. I smirk a little bit in triumph, but it is short lived.

In a blink of an eye, he is a head taller than me looking down. His chest is up against mine sending tingles throughout my body, telling me to run. I gasp when he leans down. His lips are an inch from mine. "You really think that?" I feel his breath on my lips.

I blush and quickly turn away, knowing he's won. "You're going to make a _fine_ kunoichi!"

I continue to walk away until I get over to Naruto and Kiba. "Hotaru, don't worry! He's like that to every girl. He just wants to get you out of your pants."

"Naruto, I am not wearing pants. I have shorts on." I lift up the skirt of my dress and show him.

Kiba sighs, aggravated for some reason. "Hotaru, that's not what he means."

I tilt my head. "Well, what else could he mean?"

"He wants to do you."

My eyebrows scrunch up together. I am utterly confused. "Kiba, I am not getting what you're saying."

"He wants to have sex with you!" Naruto giggles like a school girl. Kiba and I look over to him as if he has gone mad.

"That's what I meant," Kiba grumbles.

I look at the two boys, horrified. "Why would he want to do that? He hardly knows me!" I squeak out.

Kiba covers his face as Naruto laughs out loud.

I look at the two boys even more confused. Why are they laughing? Shouldn't they be as scared as I am? I am their teammate!

"Oh, Hotaru! That is so funny! You can stop acting now!" Naruto bends over while holding one hand to his stomach and the other to his knee.

I narrow my eyes at him. "You think this is a laughing matter?" Naruto stops laughing, but Kiba continues. "I am your teammate and you think that it is alright for me to get raped?"

With a poof of smoke a man appears. He is clad in a horrible green jump suit and a terrible hair cut. I bite my lip to stop from laughing at how ridiculous he looks. "WELL! AREN'T YOU A BEAUTIFUL LASS!"

I gulp, waiting for the giggles to come. The gestures he makes to where the training field is, the drinking fountain, and the medical bay are becoming too much. I look over to Naruto for support, but all I find him doing is whispering and snickering to Kiba.

Then when he makes a huge thumbs up pose in front of me I can't hold the laughter inside of me. It all bursts out and my face turns red with it and embarrassment.

"It's okay, Yuu-san." I turn around to find the administration guy.

I gasp and my eyes widen. "I guess you were right about seeing me again." I blush as he smiles.

"I am Uchiha Itachi." He bows and I return the gesture.

"Douzo Yoroshiku."

He smiles and then turns to the boys. "You should not be betting on things like that. It's very rude to your new teammate." He turns back to me and then lowers his head to my eye level. "Don't worry too much about laughing at Guy-sensei. Everyone eventually has their moment."

I sigh and look down, once again embarrassed at my outburst.

"Do you want us to take our warm up laps now?" Kiba asks, sounding a bit bored.

"Please do. We're doing team bonding after this." Itachi-sensei sighs, almost as if it pains him to say 'team bonding.'

All three of us take off in what begins as all of us running together, but swiftly turns into a race. "I bet I could beat you back to Itachi, Hotaru."

I look over to the blonde boy with a raised eyebrow. "You really think that?"

To make sure his ego is thoroughly bruised, I dash off to Itachi-sensei as fast as I can, only to be beat by Kiba. Naruto catches up to us huffing with sweat on his brow.

"Naruto, are you alright?" Itachi-sensei looks at the exhausted boy.

He holds up a finger, before speaking. "Hotaru, you're fast."

I smile at him and put a hand out for him to grab. "Don't worry, Naruto, it's pretty hard to be faster than I am." I shoot a respectful glance over to Kiba, who puffs his chest out.

Itachi-sensei claps his hand and all three of us take our attention away from each other and to him. "So, we are going to go to the bleachers while everyone else plays hide and seek."

"Hide and seek?" I tilt my head at the other students. Tanzo gives me a wink, making me turn away and look back at Itachi-sensei once again.

"The name explains it, baka." Kiba shoots me a smirk and I furrow my brows.

"Kiba, that isn't being nice to your teammate," Naruto calls. I don't pay attention to him and glare at Kiba.

I cross my arms in front of me. "You don't need to be rude to me."

Kiba takes a step towards me and towers over me. "I'm sorry for feeling that you need to stop pulling this stupid act on us and get on with life!"

"Stupid act?" I screech, appalled by what he is accusing me of. Everyone's eyes shift from Guy-sensei to the pair of us, "I am one of the most intelligent people in this room! Why would I ever pull a stupid act?"

Kiba's hairs start to stand on end and his nails grow longer and sharper. He lets out a snarl. "Well, you are the new kid. You're the one wearing your school uniform all form fitted and shit! Look at you now! You're fucking sexy as hell in that! All you could talk about on the walk to school, all you were doing was trying to take the attention off of you! All you really want is attention!"

"How dare you!" I lunge at his neck, without thinking. He kicks me off and I skid across the floor reaching for a kunai. He comes at me with one in his hand too. I sprint forward to him at top speed, but flip over and throw the kunai at his foot, catching his shoe. He gets aggravated and throws his kunai at me. I dodge easily and sprint towards him with anger tinting the edge of my vision. I flip him on his back, taking the kunai out of his shoe with one fluid movement. I shove the kunai onto his throat, almost drawing blood. His eyes are little slits and his canine teeth long. He tries to move but I put the kunai closer to his throat, drawing a little blood. "NEVER! I mean _**never**_ insult me like that ever again!" I glare at him with the kunai to his throat ready to kill him if he even breathes a word, but Naruto comes and pulls me off of him. I fight against Naruto, but he's just that much stronger to keep me in place.

Kiba stands up, wiping dirt off of him. He rubs his arm under his neck to get the blood. "I will never submit to a girl like you!"

I glare at him, opening my mouth ready to spring on him once again. "Hotaru, it isn't worth it," Naruto whispers, gripping my shoulders. I give up with a sigh and expel all my anger into that. Naruto leads me over to the bleachers where Itachi-sensei watched the whole thing.

"You know, Hotaru, The Third could deport you if you attack a fellow teammate." I look up at him with wide eyes, hoping it isn't true, but his stern gaze only makes it concrete.

I look down, ashamed of my behavior. I let myself glance over to Kiba to find him still seething with anger. I try to not let it frighten me as I listen to the game we must play for Itachi-sensei, something to do with falling into each other's arms to show that we trust each other.

I fall onto the gym floor for the fifth time. I stare up to see Kiba's smirking face, looking down at me. I don't even take the energy to glare at him.

Naruto had caught me. Kiba had caught Naruto. Why can't Kiba catch me? Is it that hard?

"Awe, did the smart one hurt her head?" he jabs, ignoring Itachi-sensei's sigh and command to do it again.

I stand up in a swift movement and sigh. "Why do you think making comments like that will do anything? Naruto and I are stuck here in the gym doing this extremely boring exercise, along with you of course, until you decide to catch me when I fall." It takes so much effort to make sure I keep my voice even. Kiba seems to get some sort of entertainment out my anger.

Naruto looks impatiently over to Kiba. "I am so hungry right now. I want ramen now, believe it!"

"Naruto, you're always hungry," Kiba deadpans. He looks over to me, smiling. "Fine, I'll catch you when you fall."

I watch him, carefully, not quite getting why he said that in the way he did. It was almost like he meant more than catching me when I'm falling here. I shake my head and rid my mind of those thoughts. I look over my shoulder at him. I find for once that his lips hold a sincere smile and not a cocky one. I turn back frontwards and suck in a breath.

I lean back, letting gravity take me. Instead of feeling the hard wood floor of the gym crack my skull, I feel warm forearms under my arm pits. When I look up, I see Kiba's hair in his face looking down at me. His cheeks are flush for some reason. I find my mouth is slightly agape and my eyes open wide.

We stay like this until we hear snickering. We both look over to see Naruto covering his mouth with an odd expression on and Itachi-sensei smirking.

Kiba swiftly drops me, but this time I am ready and I catch myself. "Kiba!"

"Sorry," he mumbles, looking away from me.

The bell rings. "Oh, look at the time! Looks like you guys need to leave now!" Itachi smiles and waves us off. I tilt my head, wondering why he wants to leave so quickly. When Guy-sensei enters the room once more I figure it out.

"Oh. My. Kami. Hotaru!" Ino screeches when she walks into the locker room, along with Sakura and Hinata.

I blink, astonished at the volume of her voice. "What? Did I do something wrong today?"

"What? No! Of course not! I can't believe you actually stood up to Kiba!"

"It wasn't that hard to do."

Sakura waves her hand around in front of my face, making me blink and pull away. "That is not the point, Hotaru! No one has ever stood up to him before! Not that he's really a bad person, but because he's so scary! You know, with all the Inuzuka in him!"

I shrug. "I've dealt with scarier people before." I smile, thinking of Gaara.

I did not know I could ever miss those siblings so much.

"And I heard Shibire talked to you! He is like the hottest guy in school! Hotaru? Hotaru, are you even listening to me?"

Before I can answer, Sakura puts her two cents in. "Ino-pig, why would she listen to you? All you ever do is ramble on and on about gossip."

"How could you say that? Forehead!"

"Pig!"

"Billboard brow!"

As they continue to fight Hinata and I guide them to my locker, so I can retrieve my books. "Do they always argue?"

"Y-yes." She gives me a weak smile and we continue on.

"Oi! Look who it is! Hotaru!" Naruto waves from his group, the same as in the morning.

I give Hinata one last sympathetic look before scurrying over to the boys. "Hey."

"Hotaru! I can't believe you attacked Kiba! It was so cool how fast you moved and everything!"

I look down embarrassed. "I'm sorry that I did that. I have a very big temper sometimes. It got me into a lot of trouble back in Suna."

"Really? I would have never imagined that!" Kiba rolls his eyes.

I frown. "How can you say that? I yelled and screamed at-"

"I was being sarcastic, baka," Kiba interrupts, rolling his eyes once more.

I huff, not saying anything. Though, Naruto continues on to blabber about how cool I looked and that he wish he could move as fast at me.

Soon enough, I find myself alone with Naruto. To my surprise, I don't find his animated speech that annoying. It does remind me a little of Ino, but Naruto is more about ninja things than Ino.

"You two looked like animals or something! Your hair was spread out like a fire and his was all spiky and it was just awesome! Believe it!"

I giggle. "Why do you always say 'believe it?'"

He shrugs. "It adds truth to what I'm saying, that's why!" he laughs. "I'll see you tomorrow at school, Hotaru!" he waves from his apartment door.

"Tomorrow, then!" I smile at him, climbing the one flight of stairs to my apartment.

I turn the key, opening the door before shouting, "Mother! I am home!" I smell her paints. "Please tell me you have not been painting in the nude once again!"

I drop my backpack in my room before walking over to the kitchen's bar. I sit on one of the stools looking at the extra bedroom's, now painting room, door. I sigh before I open the door to find her passed out on the floor with a sake bottle only inches from her grasp. "Thank Kami, she isn't nude," I whisper to myself.

I leave her there, knowing full well that I do not want to be around when she wakes up, to go and cook some dinner. I chop chicken, slice seaweed, and make my version of a miso soup with the ingredients I previously prepared. Mother hates tofu with a passion, so I just put chicken in it to keep her happy.

"I wanna eat my soup!" my mom yells, drunkenly, from the paint room. I sigh.

"It's on the bar." I walk into my bedroom, having finished my soup in seconds of it cooling.

I start and finish my homework in a matter of an hour and a half. I guess here in Konoha, the work load is a lot less on the students, not that I am complaining. I will not miss the many nights that I had to stay up way passed the time I usually go to sleep just to complete an assignment.

I lift my window up with a grunt and jump out into the night air. I believe that the night air is so much crisper than its counterpart's because the sun is not out to make it so deathly hot. Though, some nights do get like that even without the sun.

I sit and look at the starry sky wondering how I am going to survive school still, though you really can't tell on the first day. Oh, and about the guys. Since Suna was so small, there was not many men to choose from, but here there is a good looking guy everywhere you turn! Maybe, one will be unlucky enough to fall into my web.

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><p><strong>Alright 'til next month!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey! I'm sorry this is a little late, but I had exams all last week and a paper due... . That I didn't start until that weekend, so I had to become a hermit for a while. **

**So here is the next chapter! Sorry its shorter, but next chapter will explain a lot! :D**

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><p>My alarm clock catches me off guard when it blares at me to wake up. I sigh and hold my hand over my heart. "Ryuu-niisan."<p>

I shake my head, hating the fact that I just dreamed about my imaginary brother, only in the sense that he is not my brother by blood. He does exist. He was a teenager that used to visit me when I was younger.

He was very tall, but I was around three when we met, so that isn't the best way to describe him. He always looked very pale for someone that lived in Suna, sickly almost, but he was very strong. He had red hair that always looked a little dirty to me. The only other way I could describe it would be that it looks as if there was blood in some dirt. He would always bring a small puppet with him, every time a different one.

When I first met him, I was wary like most smart shinobi are, but his charm started to grow on me. I knew it was a bad thing for him to be so much older than me; he was a teenager, but I couldn't help it. I loved breaking one rule; the rule that says I can't be friends with someone older than me.

"_Mommy! I am going to bed now."_

"_Okay, good night honey! Make sure to lock your windows!" she replies, making me smile a little. She's so scared of everything! _

_I walk into my room and see a man with his back turned to me. I reach for the kunai that my mommy put behind my desk for this reason, but find it's not there._

"_If you're looking for this, you can't have it," he says in a dull tone, holding the kunai up passed his shoulder where I can't even jump to get it. I glare at him. How can he be so smart already?_

"_What do you want, mister?" I pout, not liking how he's messing with my bedtime. If mommy sees that I fell asleep in school she'll get really mad._

"_I want to be your best friend." He turns to look at me. The moon is his halo and my drapes flying behind him, his wings. Maybe he isn't so bad! Maybe, he's an angel._

"_Why?" He is scratching at my curiosity. Why would I need a friend in him? He looks so much older than me. And the puppet he has with him, it looks so scary._

"_Well, you don't have any other friends. You need to learn how to be social." He takes a step closer. I frown at him. He better not try and take me. If I scream mommy will be in here faster than he can get to the window._

"_I don't need to be social. I am a good enough kunoichi without friends," I pout. He isn't my daddy! He can't tell me what to do!_

_He sits on my bed and smiles at me._

"_I doubt you want to be lonely for the rest of your life," he tells me. _

_I am lonely. At the ripe age of three when all you do in school is try and make friends, I had none to my name. Maybe, just maybe, I could be friends with this weird angel-man._

"_Fine, I will think of you as a friend. Don't try and pull anything on me! I can kill you!" _

_He just laughs at me. "Dear, you are not old enough to kill anyone."_

"_Think whatever you want, but I can and I will!" I pout as he smiles, once again, at me._

"_Alright, alright! I believe you." It is my turn to smile. I am starting to like him now. He seems really nice. Not like all the other older kids who push me around._

"_What's your name?" I tilt my head to the side in curiosity. Since he is going to be my friend I wanted a name._

"_You can call me Ryuu." He pats the place next to him, but I sit on the edge of the bed not wanting to get too close to this new boy._

"_Well, I'm Hotaru! And I think I'll call you Ryuu-niisan! Because I've always wanted a big brother!" I cross my legs and watch him._

_He laughs. "Okay then, Hotaru. I will be Ryuu-niisan."_

Ryuu-niisan visited me until I was eleven. Exactly a year before I moved, my mother saw him leaving my room. He was never able to come back again because she would check my room continuously through the night. Thinking about it now just makes me even more depressed about my situation.

Just as his name says, Ryuu-niisan was my brother. He may not have been my blood brother, but he still holds the part of my heart that a brother would.

Turning over, I find that it is only four in the morning; two hours before my alarm is even set to go off. The alarm that woke me up had to be a part of the dream. I push my sheets away from me and grumble, "She always ruins something good."

Swinging my legs off the bed, I let my feet touch the cold floor. I sigh before I push off the bed and walk out the door. "Breakfast, breakfast, breakfast," I murmur to myself, thinking about what I would want (not that we have all that much right now), but picking between some fish or children's cereal is a very hard thing to do when your brain is not functioning up to par. Against my better judgment, I choose the sugary cereal. As I pour my milk, I wonder if today will be as difficult as yesterday was. Will I trip and fall again? Will Tanzo harass me again? What if I get in another fight with Kiba?

After breakfast, I quickly get dressed in old uniforms that I found, that fit the dress code of course, and take a shower. All of this is completed before five am, so I have more than an hour and a half before I have to even start walking.

"Ah! I can look around the city!" I smile at the idea, pulling on my coat and grabbing my messenger bag and book bag.

I lock the door silently and walk down the stairs at my usual brisk pace, until I see Naruto doing the same thing I was doing moments ago. I stare stunned at the fact that Naruto is up this early. I know it is wrong to make such an assumption, but I did not think Naruto could physically get up early.

"Hotaru-chan!"

His voice echoes down the hallway to my ears, snapping me out of my stupor. "Naruto, what are you doing up so early?" I skip the formal greeting, knowing that it would be wasted on him. He doesn't seem formal at all.

He walks over to me before answering, "Every Tuesday and Thursday, I force myself up early, so I can watch the sunrise on Hokage Mountain." He shoots me his thousand watt smile and I can't help but be slightly astonished by this.

"You watch the sunrise every Tuesday and Thursday?"

"Believe it!" he nods and races down the stairs, towing me behind him.

I would have said something about letting me go, but I am too embarrassed about Naruto holding my hand to say a word, though I am glad he did not pick me up and run with me. That would be truly worse.

Through the run he grumbles to himself every so often about how I am slowing him down. How that is even a conceivable thought is alien to me. I believe I beat him last time we tried to race, so he has no right to say that I am the slow one. Interestingly, we do not run through the uncrowded streets, we run across the red roofs of the houses and apartments.

We make it to the Hokage Mountain just as the sky begins to change its color. I am astonished that Konoha's sun rise could be more impressive than Suna's. I think it is mostly because the buildings are so much taller and more colored than the dull sandy colored ones I am used to. It also could be that I have Naruto sitting next to me in awe, and for the first time I can see that he may not be as much of a knucklehead as I thought.

"OLD MAN!"

Or maybe I should wait.

I turn my head to find the Hokage standing a short distance behind us. He has a small smile on that makes me wonder what is on that elder's mind. "I am not surprised to see you here, Hotaru."

I smile nervously and stand, getting ready to bow.

Before I do so the Hokage interrupts me, "No need to do that here. I get enough of that during the day."

I hear Naruto laughing and I shoot him a glare, before taking my spot next to him once again. Naruto speaks up, "I convinced her to come here! She was going to walk to school if I hadn't stopped her. Believe it!"

"I was not! I was going to go and look around at the city. I may like learning, but I do not like your school!"

"It isn't that bad…"

I frown. What was good about Konoha's school? I am harassed by older boys. That did not happen in Suna. The girls here are not focused on their studies at all. They even find them boring sometimes! Temari was always dedicated to her training and so am I.

Yet, here I am, not so invisible. I have so many more friends than I did in Suna. Not best friends yet, but it seems to be going that way. The students are friendly too. Most of the teachers are strict, besides Kakashi-sensei of course.

"It is very different here than it is in Suna, Naruto, you must remember that. Hotaru must adjust to that."

I grin. "Those are my thoughts exactly. Today will have only been my second day at your school."

"Yeah, yeah," he sighs and flicks a rock down the monument's faces.

"When are you going to ask Hinata-chan out on a date, Naruto?"

Naruto seems to stop breathing for a moment and I just stare at him, wondering why that is such a tough question to answer. He takes a giant gulp of air, before opening his mouth, "I don't know."

I tilt my head. "Why not ask her today in class? Everyone will see that she's yours if you do."

Before I know it, the Hokage is chuckling and Naruto's face has turned bright red. "I believe it is time for you two to head to school now," the Hokage says between his laughter.

I shrug and stand quickly, picking up my book bag, shrugging it on, and walking away. Naruto swiftly follows, but instead of being his regular noisy self he stays silent. I relish in it perfectly fine. Gaara was never much of a speaker, so it is easy for me to fall back into the silence.

Naruto breaks the quiet. "Do you think Hinata-chan will think we're going out if we walk to school together?"

"We are going out of the apartment building to get to school." I state as I turn to give him an odd look. Naruto in turns smacks his head.

"Hotaru-chan that's not what I meant."

"Oh? What did you mean then?" I smile and watch him curious. What else did going out mean?

He sighs, "What I meant was, if Hinata will think we're dating if we walk to school together."

"You walk to school with Kiba, Shikamaru, and Chouji and people do not think you are dating." I nod, giving him a reassuring smile.

He laughs, but says nothing else.

We arrive at the gate a few moments later. I let out a sigh of relief, finding that I have once again made it before the gates are open. It gives me plenty of time to get to both my lockers and to class.

When I walk out of the locker room, two people speak to me. One I am fine with, the other not at all.

"Hotaru-chan!" Naruto waves frantically from his group of boys stepping out of the locker room.

"Ah, Hotaru is your beautiful name," a husky voice says into my ear.

I spin around horrified that I could ever let someone so close without noticing. Tanzo. He must think that my gasp was an invitation to kiss me, because he begins to lean in. Before I can knock him out, Naruto steps in and shoves him back, "Dude. Don't do it."

In a matter of moments, a charged crowd gathers around the three of us. I look around the inner circle and find all of the people I met yesterday. All of the girls have a disgusted face and all of the boys have scowls on (even Shikamaru who, I thought would be too lazy to plaster one on).

"Oh, I see now. You're dating her aren't you?" Tanzo and his gang laugh as Naruto clenches his fist. I turn to Hinata to check how she is doing. She is holding her small hands to her chest and she won't look at me.

Naruto looks back at me and then towards Tanzo. "No! Hotaru is my friend and you won't kiss her without her permission! Believe it!" he growls. I wonder if he and Kiba are cousins, because his hair is starting to stand on end as Kiba's did yesterday.

Tanzo puffs his chest out and yells obnoxiously loud, "Then why the hell did you tell me to back off?"

"Because Hotaru-chan would have kicked your ass! Then I would lose a teammate!" Naruto turns back to give me a smile, but his eyes prevent me from giving him a glad grin. They are a bright golden yellow not his usual sky blue, happy eyes with slits. He gives me a confused raised eyebrow because I must have let my emotions show, but before he can say anything Kakashi-sensei arrives.

"Alright, party's over."

"Kakashi-sensei, we aren't having a party." I blurt out. The hallway seems to go silent at the sound of my high voice.

I watch Kakashi's lip twitch upward, but before I can see him smile Naruto slaps my shoulder and laughs, "Hotaru-chan, you sure are a joker!"

I look at him. "Naruto I wasn't-"

"Hotaru!"

His voice cuts me off. He makes my cheeks heat up like Gaara's gaze used to. I open my mouth to say something, but nothing is heard because he stands there with a smile on his pretty face.

I blink. What is wrong with me? How can I be falling in love with someone else? Gaara… "My knight."

He messes up my hair as people leave. All of them except the Rookie Nine of course. He chuckles, "Not this time, though I am pretty okay with my replacement." Shibire gives Naruto a nod. "You did well."

I smile when I find Naruto grinning. "She's my friend, so I'll protect her. Believe it!"

Shibire gives them one last smile before be begins to steer me toward my locker. I look over my shoulder at them to give them a smile goodbye.

"Kiba? Are you alright?" I hear Ino ask when I turn to face away from them. Shibire started talking to me.

"Yeah, perfectly fine," he growls back.

I frown, but my knight breaks my thoughts, "You alright?"

"Yes." I smile back, turning my thoughts away from Kiba's growl and what it could mean.

I open the door after waving goodbye to Shibire, only to be met by another growl, "I don't like him, alright!"

"I think you're jealous that he gets along with Hotaru better."

I look down the rows of desks to see the two talking, Kiba and Ino. Not much of a surprise, I assume. Ino is the class flirt and Kiba is one of the more attractive boys, but why are they talking about me?

Sakura smiles at me. "Hey, Hotaru."

"Sakura-san." Sitting down next to her, I look back at the pair talking with a knot in my stomach. "Why are Kiba and Ino talking about me?"

She looks up from her reading book and sighs. "I told you Hotaru. Kiba likes you. He's jealous of Shibire's time with you."

"Kiba and I met yesterday."

"Haven't you heard of love at first sight?" She lifts up her book as if it is evidence.

I frown. "Sakura, that never happens. Love at first sight is a stupid ploy that authors used to get girls to fall in love with silly books like that one. Read more ninja books. Those will never lie to you." I smile, happy that I could help.

Sakura's laugh is light. "You'll figure it out someday Hotaru and you will thank me."

She doesn't see my perplexed look because she goes back to reading. Figure what out? I sigh. Why is everyone here so cryptic?

Kakashi-sensei finally shows up about a half an hour late and tells us that by the end of next week we need to be able to forge our parents' signatures. Kiba lets out a laugh and says something about already being able to do that.

It seems like an easy enough task if you had seen your parent's signature. Okaa-san has never signed any of the papers I have brought home. She always came into school and told the teacher that it was okay to do whatever the paper had ask. Most of the children in my classes found it odd, but my mother was an odd person to begin with, so it didn't faze me.

"So, Hotaru!" I jump at the sound of Kiba's voice. I had been practicing forging Sakura's handwriting when he appeared in front of me. "Why didn't you walk with us this morning? Scared you'll face plant again?"

I scowl, but before I can answer, Naruto pops out of nowhere and punches Kiba's shoulder. I stare wide eyed at the exchange. "Asshole! Be nice to Hotaru-chan! She was with me! Believe it!"

Sakura's attention must have been grabbed by the knuckle head's loud declaration. "She was with you?"

I sink into my seat, feeling everyone's eyes upon the back of my head. Why are they being so loud? Why does Sakura even care?

"Whoa, Hotaru! You were with Naruto?" Ino looks over from her seat next to Hinata. My eyes widen. No! Hinata cannot hear this! She will think that Naruto and I went on a date! I do not like Naruto romantically!

Kiba chuckles, "Hotaru, do you _like _Naruto?"

I blush and look over to Naruto. He seems as red as I am. "Of course I don't! I'm in love with someone else!" It comes out before I can stop myself. I cup my hand over my mouth. How could I be so stupid to divulge information about that?

Kiba's expression falls to one that can be described as a scowl, Naruto lets out a sigh, and Sakura and Ino squeal.

"So you are human!" Ino slams Kiba and Naruto out of the way. "What's he look like?"

I blink, still blushing. This is not what I expected. Where is the teasing that Temari used to do?

For the rest of the hour, Sakura and Ino drill me about Gaara. What his eye color is or how tall he is or what his voice sounds like. The whole time I cannot stop blushing, but I describe him the best I can.

When I get up to leave, Kiba rushes passed me. His hair is standing on end like it was when we had our argument. Sakura giggles.

"I told you."

I look back at her, not understanding what she was referring to. She just grins at me as she picks up her books and swishes her bright hair. She leaves me behind.

"Konoha, you are so confusing," I mutter to myself, stepping out of the classroom and into someone.

I look up to find Shibire smiling. "You should look up when you walk. You could really hurt yourself next time."

"I doubt walking into someone would cause that much damage. It's nowhere near the force that would be needed to knock someone over." I grin and walk briskly down the hall to my locker. He laughs next to me.

"Are you always like this?"

I look up at him as I jiggle my locker the right way. "I don't think I could be any other way."

"You're cute, Hotaru." He pats my head and leaves my side. I open my mouth to say something, but I forgot what I was even going to say. Frowning, I pick up my books and head off to class. I barely make it.

"Hotaru!" Sakura gasps.

Shikamaru is already asleep with a seat vacant for me. "Yes?"

"Naruto asked Hinata out!"

Maybe that was why he was so quiet when we walked to school. He was thinking about Hinata! It makes sense for him to become so quiet. She is a quiet girl. "I am glad he got the courage to ask her."

Before Sakura can answer, Morino-sensei begins to write today's notes down. Sakura and I take them as quickly as we can while Shikamaru sleeps.

In the middle of class, I pick up my pencil and move to poke Shikamaru's arm. His head turns abruptly. "Don't."

I stare at him with my wide innocent eyes Temari told me to do when I get caught by a boy. "Don't what?" I whisper back.

He glares. "Try and poke me to get me to pay attention. It won't." He turns his head to sleep once more.

It took him less than ten seconds to figure out what I was doing. Damn him.

I sigh when I make it to my locker once again. The day is not even half over yet and I want to go home.

"Babe."

A shiver runs down my spine, my hair stands on end, and my heart pounds. Tanzo. Shibire is nowhere to be seen. Naruto doesn't have a class near here. I have no one.

He puts a hand on either side of my head leaning down when I turn around to face him with some courage.

But my courage leaves when I see his eyes.

Dark and full of lust.

Suddenly the eyes are gone and all I see is a school uniform. A messy school uniform. "Back off," Shikamaru calmly reprimands.

Tanzo snorts. "Shadow boy, you know I will get her in the end." He leaves. I fall against the locker, trembling. How can I let him get to me so easily? Gaara is feared by a whole village, but I am not the slightest bit scared of him!

"Are you okay?"

I finally notice Pony Tail staring at me intently. I nod as a response.

"Do you want me to walk you to your next class?"

I nod once more. What has happened to the tough Hotaru? What has happened to the one that took down an Inuzuka? What has happened to the one that tamed the desert's beast?

"Hotaru?" Sakura's worried tone echoes through my thoughts.

I look to my left to see Shikamaru leaving already. Sakura touches my shoulder with a small smile. "Tanzo," I answer her unasked question.

She squeezes my arm. "It'll be okay. We will protect you." When I look at her to tell her that she's wrong and that no one can protect me from someone like him, she gives me the kindest smile and I cannot tell her what I wanted. It would not be right. I stay silent instead.

Seduction class could not have dragged on any longer than it had. I can practice fake drinking for only so long. I can only listen to Sakura gush about Sasuke for so long also. I can only handle the stares everyone was giving Sakura and I as she gushed and I practiced. You would think that they saw three heads on each of us.

"Then one time he talked to me until I fell asleep next to him! It was so romantic! I can't believe my mom let me go out that late."

I give her a smile as we exit the classroom. I scan the hallway, once again wishing I didn't have my father's flaming red hair. Thankfully I do not see Tanzo. "Are you two dating?"

My question causes her usual red cheeks to deepen in color. "N-no… Not yet. Well, I hope it's a yet. I really do like him Hotaru." Sakura gives me a pleading look. "Ever since I met him."

I sigh, knowing the same feeling, somewhat anyway. I knew I would be friends with Gaara from the time I met him, but I didn't know I would fall in love with him.

"Do you love anyone, Hotaru?" We stop right outside the Caf. I stare at her for a moment, feeling a blush rise from my neck to my forehead and Sakura stands and stares, waiting.

I look into the giant room filled to the brim with students, before spitting out a question, "Why are there so many cliques?"

Sakura sighs, "It's a big school."

I stand on the outside of the group for the second day in a row. How am I supposed to figure out where I belong here? How do I, Yuu Hotaru, fit in with the originals?

Sakura waves her hand at me. "Hotaru, come over here."

I look to her. She's leaning into Sasuke and he holds her with is arm gently placed around her waist. Sasuke smiles and waits for me to join him and Sakura. Sighing, I wonder over. I sit cross legged on the other side of Sakura. I eat silently listening to their conversations with some interest. I don't see how talking about whom Yumi is dating or why Gajii is still seeing the bitch Yuuki matters much.

When I look up one time, I find Kiba watching me. He doesn't notice at first that I looked up, but after a moment his eyes widen and a bark is heard. Akamaru jumps out of his book bag and bounds over to me. Kiba scrambles up to grab him, but it is too late. Akamaru made it to me in a matter of moments.

I put my hand out for him to sniff, but he skips over that and licks it. I laugh, not bothered by this at all. Petting the top of his head I smile. "You are a cute thing, Akamaru."

Kiba crouches in front of me. "Dogs reflect their owners, Hotaru."

I give Kiba a perplexed look and then down to Akamaru who seems to roll his eyes. "Kiba, you do not bark and Akamaru does not speak." I smile, knowing what he means by his previous statement, but I want to see if he will get mad once more.

He only frowns when he hears Sakura giggle and Sasuke force back a laugh. "That is not what I meant. You have to think I'm cute because Akamaru is cute."

"That's not a very good reason to think you're good looking, Kiba. You should come up with a legitimate reason for me to think you're cute."

"I make you laugh," he spits out.

"I have never laughed around you once!"

"Well, I bet I could make you laugh." A grin spreads across his face and I cannot help but stare at his abnormally long canines. They do not frighten me, but what frightens me is that I do not know if I like them or love them.

"How will you do that?"

"I will tell you a joke."

I blink and look over to Sakura for help. She gives me a mysterious smile and looks up at Sasuke. "Well, what is the joke?"

He nods. "Well, there are three potatoes. A mother, a father, and a daughter. The daughter potato-"

I cut him off as I burst into fits of laughter. "How can a potato have a family?" I ask.

Everyone seems very quiet for a moment, but then they all begin to laugh with me, or at least I hope it is with me. Kiba pats my knee, still laughing, with his warm hand. "I never finished the joke."

I grin and place my hand on his. "You didn't have to. Imagining potatoes walking down the street is funny enough." His expression turns to the one that it had been when he caught me. His eyes are wide and his face is flush, but instead of me being able to keep my blush under control it sneaks up on me. The Rookie Nine seem to go quiet as I find myself wanting to stay in this moment. Kiba is not being rude to me, he is not teasing me about something, and he is not hurting me in anyway. This is actually quite nice.

The bell interrupts the silence and I hear someone mutter, "Hm, guess the bell doesn't save everyone."

I open my bag my bag and curse.

"What is it Hotaru?" Ino's head pops from around the locker door and gives me a questioning glance.

I pull the dress out of the bag. A collective gasp is heard from every girl that sees the dress.

"Green," I whisper.

"I would give you one of my extra ones, but your boobs…" Sakura trails off.

Sighing, I continue to get dressed with dread filling my stomach with each ticking second. Kiba is going to laugh, Naruto is going to turn red, and I just know Guy-sensei is going to be loud as possible. Why does life have to be so cruel? It is bad enough to be the new kid.

I stand at the closed door which leads to the gym, and sigh. "Dying would be more fun than class."

Hinata lets out a snicker. "Th-that's a go-good joke."

I smile slightly and push open the door. If am going to be the best kunoichi Konoha has ever seen I am going to have to get over this.

"YOU LOOK SO RADIENT IN THAT GREEN! YOU LOOK BETTER IN GREEN THAN I DO!" Guy-sensei shouts as loud as he possibly could, pointing to his own jumpsuit in wild gestures.

Everyone seems to turn their head and stare me down. Yet, before I could melt into a puddle, Sakura and Ino appear on either side of me and pull me over to the bleachers.

All of the boys stop snickering suddenly. I look up to Sakura and cringe. I never knew someone could have a cloud of death around their head or sparks coming out of their eyes.

Unfortunately, Kiba does not find Sakura as scary as the rest or he's more stupid than all of them. "First the fall now this! You're just asking to be the odd one out!" He slaps his knee.

Naruto growls and punches him. "Dude, be nice to her. This is her second day."

"Shut up, baka!" Kiba growls ready to lunge at Naruto, but Itachi-sensei pulls him away.

"Kiba," he warns and then smiles at me. "For once Guy was not lying. Hotaru you look magnificent in that dress."

Kiba pulls away from Itachi-sensei with a growl and a glare. He stalks off to the weight room. I can't say anything because I am too embarrassed.

Naruto tells me that Tuesdays are weight room days for our team and Shino's. Naruto talks animatedly, but I stop listening when I see Tanzo. Chills run down my spine, but before I can even feel my stomach knot Naruto speaks up, "Hotaru! I will beat you, believe it!" and he takes off running.

"Beat me in what?" I screech and race after the hyper active child.

Tanzo is forgotten.

"HA! I beat you!" Naruto huffs at the entrance to the weight room.

I scowl. "I didn't even know we were racing! You are a cheater Naruto!"

He huffs, indignant. "I am not! You just didn't have a childhood!"

"Alright children," Itachi-sensei says, glancing at Naruto and I. I look away in shame, but Naruto huffs once more. Kiba appears next to me and still seems to be fuming about something. I wonder if he has ever considered anger management. "Today we will be running."

The three of us blink.

Itachi-sensei rolls his eyes. "Well, I was going to make you run the wall, but then Guy started talking about how he was going to have his-"

Naruto and Kiba race off to the treadmill, leaving me in front of our sensei in bewilderment. I open my mouth to speak, but Itachi-sensei cuts me off, "Just run on the treadmill for the rest of the hour, Hotaru. You will understand someday."

I sigh, feeling like the stupid foreigner that you see in the movies. I wish Okasan had given me more of a warning so I could have read up on Konoha's ninja.

When I finally arrive at the treadmills, I see both boys running relatively fast. I shrug and step onto mine. I frown when I notice these are nothing like the ones I had in Suna. Sighing, I press the buttons that I hope will get the machine to work. My luck seems to have changed and the platform begins to move.

The rest of the hour I keep up a rather high speed, but find that I really do detest running on a treadmill. All I had to look at was Shino's team working out. I would much rather be running with Guy-sensei clad in his work out suit. No, I take that statement back; watching Shino's team is better than that.

Naruto pokes me, interrupting my musings. "Hey! Want to come with us to go and get ramen?"

I stand in front of the door to the girls' locker room. I smile. "Yeah, I would love to, but before I go I have to tell my mother where I am."

"What are you five?" Kiba growls as he pushes the boys' door open and disappears.

Naruto rolls his eyes. "That's alright! We weren't going to go until around five."

I give him a nod and push the door open.

I hear Ino gag, "What happened to you?"

"All I had to do was run." I look down. My dress is sticking to me like it usually does after a hard work out. "Do I have a bruise I don't notice?"

Sakura laughs. "Hotaru, you're all sweaty. You look like you went swimming."

"Well, I have not gone swimming, just running for the whole hour."

Ino shakes her head. "One of the hottest teachers we can have and he's a total drill sergeant."

I give her a shrug in return, pulling the sticky dress over my head and slipping into some comfy pants Okasan picked up at a store I've never been too. I wiggle my way into a T-shirt, before sighing. How am I supposed to act around the Rookie Nine outside of school? Temari was always less of a lady outside of school and Kankuro was the same boy as he was in school and I never saw much of Gaara in school.

"Hotaru!" a voice wakes me from my nervous thoughts.

I smile, finding Shibire running towards me. "My knight."

He chuckles and throws his arm around my shoulders. We talk as he walks me to my group of friends. Everyone welcomes him, Ino especially and Kiba gives him a glare. As Sakura and Ino argue about Ino's whoreish ways, Shibire tells me goodbye and walks away.

"I don't think he's good for you, Hotaru," Kiba growls when Ino leaves with her father.

I tilt my head, wondering why he cares so much.

"Kiba, he gets good grades, is handsome, and doesn't get in much trouble." Sakura flicks each good point off her fingers.

"He's too old."

"Age is just a number, Kiba." Everyone in the group stares at me as if I spilled the biggest military secret I could. "What?"

Sakura laughs and shakes her head as she enters her home. "Hotaru, we didn't expect that to come from you."

"Oh."

Naruto claps a hand on my shoulder. "It was cool of ya though! Maybe you do have some street smarts in you!"

"Street… smarts?" I stare at him perplexed. Kankuro had talked about it a little bit, but he was saying that I had none at all.

Kiba chuckles. "You have a lot to learn, Firefly."

"Why do you want to call me that?"

He only gives me a shrug in answer. Chouji offers the group a laugh while Shikamaru stays silent.

"Be happy. Kiba doesn't give nicknames out willy nilly. Believe it!" Naruto stupidly grins.

I blink, about to give Kiba a 'Thank you', but Kiba glares. I give him a glare back and trudge off to Naruto and I's building.

Naruto laughs. "Nice, dude."

"Shut up! I was glaring at you not her! Look what you did!" he growls.

Naruto just laughs and jogs over to me. We walk up the stairs in some silence because Naruto started to whistle half way up the first floor.

"Hey, Hotaru?" he calls from his door as I am about to step onto the next stair.

"Yes?"

"If Shibire does anything you don't like you can tell anyone of us and we'll protect you, okay?" His eyes turn determined and I can't help, but smile.

"Though I probably will never need your protection, I will still tell you if something is amiss." I give him a nod and continue up the stairs.

When I open the door, I find Okasan sober and happy to see me. "Better than the first?"

I shrug and tell her, "No, but still a good day nonetheless."

She grins. "You better tell me about it as you cook!" she sings and I roll my eyes.

I finish my day as I set down her beef kushiyaki. "Itadakimasu," we slip the first piece of meat off the skewer and lift it to our mouths at the same time.

"I'm glad you're getting used to here," she says between mouthfuls.

I sigh, "I am not used to it here yet, so hold that until later."

She only gives me a laugh in return.

I wrap most of my dinner for later, knowing I won't be eating all that much at the ramen shop. I wander off to my room, wondering what I could possibly wear.

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><p><strong>So? Excited for the Ramen Stand?<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! I know this is a little late, but I essays and before break homework... DX Though I will be working a whole hellva lot to get two chapters wrote up. Until next month!**

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><p>I hear a knock on the apartment door and my mother screaming something, but I cannot tell what. Moments later Naruto barges into my bathroom. "Firefly, let's go!"<p>

I blink at him and then look at myself in the mirror. I was going to put on some make-up, but seeing now that Naruto was here... "Naruto, may I ask you a question?"

He nods, frantically.

"Do I look fine?" I feel my cheeks heat up at the embarrassment of being so insecure about this.

He stares at me dumbly for a moment, before breaking out into a wild grin. "You look awesome, believe it!"

I cannot help but let a small smile come to my face for a moment. "Thank you."

"Okay? You good? C'MON!" He yanks my arm almost out of socket as he races out of my apartment.

"Have fun, Hotaru!" my mother coos. I can only roll my eyes at nothing because we are already out the door. Naruto and I fly down the stairs and out of the apartment building in record time.

"You must really love ramen," I mutter.

"Believe it!" he sings and continues on a little faster. "It's the bestest thing on the planet! I know you said it's unhealthy and stuff, but I can't get enough of the stuff!" he rambles on and on about the 'amazingness,' which isn't a word, of ramen. I really don't see how he can stay the way he is with all of the noodles he eats. Oh! It's because he runs so much from instructors that he burns all the calories off! That makes so much sense now.

A gruff voice comes out of an alleyway, "Miss, what are you doing with the demon child?"

When I sneak a glance at Naruto, his head is hanging low and his fists are clenched. I frown and wonder why Naruto is also called a demon child.

"Sir you should not be calling Naruto names when you do not know him!" I glare at the man. He's not that impressive at all. He is hardly over five foot tall, he's incredibly skinny, and is missing a few teeth that show when he talks.

After I speak, both men around me look incredibly surprised at my retort. Naruto grins, while the man scowls. "Girl, you have no idea what the boy holds inside him! He's bad news!"

"Why should I care? He has done nothing to me to make me think that he is a demon. You, sir, on the other hand, have done nothing but prove you are scum," I sneer and grab Naruto's arm, pulling him away from the alley. I have no idea where I am walking, but I do not wish to be near that nasty man anymore.

"Hotaru?" Naruto sounds so small next to me, so vulnerable. I turn to him and stop suddenly. His eyes have the same glint Gaara has when someone comes near him, but Naruto's disappears into happiness quickly. "Thank you."

Before I can tell him "you're welcome," Kiba runs up with his nin-dog and Hinata. "Dude, Shino couldn't make it because of stupid clan stuff!" He looks down at something and scowls. "Why are you guys holding hands?"

Naruto and I look down at our connected hands. I frown not remembering when I had grabbed his hand. I thought I had grabbed his arm. "There was this man…" I begin, but it doesn't seem like either of the newcomers are listening. Hinata is looking away with a red blush on her face while Kiba is scowling.

I shrug, letting go of Naruto's hand. "Are we going in the wrong direction to the ramen shop?"

Kiba snorts, "Stupid foreigner. Yes, of course we're going the right way."

"Then how am I stupid if we are going the right way?" I raise an eyebrow, but before Kiba can shoot something out of his giant, loud mouth, Sasuke appears.

"Dobe, what's taking you so long? Ramen's getting cold." He smirks as Naruto's eyes widen and he takes off.

I look up at the dark haired boy, "He only moves that fast for ramen, doesn't he?"

"Hn," he nods.

As we walk at a normal pace, Sasuke and Hinata in between Kiba and I, I can't help but sneak one or two glances at the dog nin and Akamaru. Kiba only catches me once and he gives me a toothy grin. I wonder what it could mean. Does it mean that he likes that I look at him or that he is happy that he caught me? Perhaps it's a combination of the two? Whatever it means I like that smile on him, even if it sends my face into a summer's heat.

"Sasuke-kun! It took you long enough to get here!" Sakura cries. I frown. Why does she have to be so noisy? Sasuke will hear her no matter how quiet she is. He is a ninja.

She wraps her arms around him, sending me a small glare. My eyes widen and I look around, wondering what I could have done wrong. I was only talking his ear off. Why is it so bad when I do it? Sakura talks both of his ears off.

"Hotaru!" Naruto yells my name out and pats the stool next to him. I sit down and Sasuke follows suit next to me, Sakura in tow. Hinata sits with Kiba and she begins to blush when Kiba pokes her and looks in my direction.

I bite my lip and turn to Naruto. "Hey, where are Ino and Chouji?"

Naruto looks at me and blinks. The sound of rolling eyes resounds in Sasuke's voice. "Hotaru, he won't know. He's not in a clan, so he doesn't understand all that much, but they are in clan stuff today too."

Naruto looks saddened by this, but I speak up, "Hm, seems better to be out of a clan than in one. So much business to attend on top of school and training." I give Naruto a reassuring smile and turn to Sasuke to hear more from him.

He shrugs, "It's not all that bad. Yes it gets tedious with all the ceremonies and rules that we have to follow."

"Chayeah… Mostly the things about marriage really," Kiba snorts and all three of us, Sasuke, Naruto, and I, look to him. "I have to be married by Nineteen! I'll hardly be able to do anything!"

Sasuke rolls his eyes. "Kiba you're twelve, right now. You have seven years to do whatever the hell you want to. You make it sound you won't start drinking until you're twenty-one."

Kiba scratches his cheek, looking sheepish. "I hate to say it, but you are right Sasuke, but c'mon man! Who wants to get married at nineteen?"

"My mother was practically married at sixteen." I blurt out and regret it when everyone looks at me. My cheeks flush.

"Dude! What do you mean practically?" Sakura blurts out, holding her chopsticks over the bowl of ramen in front of her. That is when I notice my own ramen sitting, steaming in front of me.

"Hotaru, pl-please tell us the story." Hinata's shy voice somehow makes it over to me over Naruto's obnoxious slurping.

I sigh. "My mother was orphaned at a young age. It was during the second shinobi war that her parents were killed." I take a small slurp of my noodles to make sure everyone is listening. I find everyone, even the man and the woman behind the counter, is paying attention to my story. "My mother's first love found her when she was fishing for food. He was a nice man and she wishes I could have known him, but he was killed." I wave my hand dismissively, trying not to get too emotional about a man I never met. "Sorry off topic. As time goes on they create a hideout. They live there by themselves until my mother found a man there one day, dying. They fixed him up. By some twist of fate, it turns out that man would one day become my father." I smile happily. My mother was always a caring person, but this shows how truly caring she was, even for a stranger.

Naruto blinks and then frowns. "That's it? C'mon! There has to be more Hotaru!"

"That's all my mother told me." I shrug.

Sasuke frowns and looks at his noodles for a moment, but then looks back at me. "I hate to ask, but your father?"

"Is dead. He died in the third war." I smile. "Don't feel bad, I never knew him."

Hinata speaks up quietly, "Th-that must be-be very hard on your o-okasan."

I sip some of my ramen broth and smile fondly. "My mother is a strong woman. She handles it quite well, I believe."

"I don't know what I would do if I lost any of my family…" Sasuke whispers and I look over to him to find him, gripping the table with an intense scowl that I never thought could mar his face.

I smile brightly. "Don't worry Sasuke! You're family is a strong people. It would have to take an army almost the size of Suna to take them down."

His scowl disappears in a flash and he pats my shoulder. "Arigato."

I give him a nod and finish my broth, putting the empty bowl on the counter in front of me. I turn to Naruto and find him looking sadly into his bowl of ramen. I pat his hand. "You have friends. That's just as good as family."

He sighs, "Is it that obvious?"

Kiba snorts. "Yeah."

I whip my head and glare at Kiba. He gives me a questioning look and I turn back to Naruto with a small smile. "Don't worry Naruto. I don't think any less of you."

His broad smile returns. "Awesome sauce!"

The whole group stares at him. "Awesome sauce, Naruto? Really?" Sakura shakes her head. "You really need to expand your vocabulary."

"My vocation is fine!"

Everyone begins to laugh as Naruto looks back and forth between us. Kiba must have been eating because he spits out most of his noodles back into his bowl which sends the rest of us in another fit of giggles.

We spend most of the afternoon at the ramen shop. Sakura and Sasuke are first to leave. Kiba gives a knowing look to Sasuke who coughs to cover up a blush. Sakura looks up and asks him if he is hot as she latches onto his arm. She may be smart, but clinging to a boy like that is pathetic.

"Are you jealous?" I turn back to be met by Kiba's raised eyebrow.

I give him a scowl. "Of course not. I could seduce Sasuke if I wanted to!"

Hinata blushes as Naruto cackles. "Seduce!"

Kiba actually pats my head with a small laugh. "Sure, Hotaru. I would love to see you try. You hate your boobs and you blush like crazy."

"I can stop when I want to!" Huffing, I glower up at him.

He leans in so close that I can hear him breathing. My eyes widen and my heart pounds and my palms become clammy. The whole world goes quiet as I stare up at him. He can't really be trying to kiss me can he? He has to be joking! Gaara is supposed to be my first kiss not this stupid dog-nin user…

"Yup, you couldn't stop if you tried," he says as his lips pull up, showing his long canines.

I hit his chest lighter than I wish and shout, "That was completely unfair! Not blushing when you think someone is going to kiss you is totally different!"

"Not really." He shrugs, nonchalantly.

"It is too! I wasn't expecting that and when you're trying to seduce someone you know what's happening! Totally different!"

He pokes my cheek and stares into my eyes. "How do you know I'm not trying to seduce you?"

"Of course you're not! I've had enough training to know it!" Slapping his hand away, I turn to Naruto. "Are you ready to go?"

I find that Naruto and Hinata have disappeared.

"Huh, looks like it's just me and you." Kiba flashes me a grin and I give him a frown back.

"Wonderful." I roll my eyes and begin to walk home.

He catches up easily. "Do I sense a drip of sarcasm?" He chuckles. I don't even take the energy to glare at him again. He sighs and out of the corner of my eyes I see him stuff his hands in his pockets. I try to not steal glances at him, but I find it a lot harder than I first had thought. I just hope he doesn't catch me.

We make it to the cross street where Kiba usually comes from in the morning. I stop so we can say goodbye, but Kiba continues to walk for a moment, before stopping and turning to face me. "Your apartment is this way right?"

I blink.

He takes a step forward and turns back to me. "Hotaru? C'mon. It's going to get dark soon."

I point like an idiot. "Your house is that way though."

"And?"

I point the other way. "That's where my apartment is."

"Yeah, I know. You've walked with Naruto every day you've been here from there."

"They're on the opposite sides of the city!"

Kiba smacks his head. "Hotaru, I'm walking you home."

"Walking me home…?"

"Okay, you can't be that stupid not to know what that means…"

I grimace. "I am not stupid at all! I just… you know, thought gentlemen did that."

He deadpans and walks back over to me. "Firefly, I am not a bad person."

"I know that! But I mean… I just thought you didn't like me all that much." I cross my arms, hating that I have to look up at him.

He grins. "I don't, but I'm not a douche bag that lets a girl walk home in the dark."

"Douche…" I shake my head and say. "Forget I said anything… I can take care of myself, you know!" I begin to walk swiftly away. "It's not even that dark anyway."

Kiba, being taller than I am, steps in time with me easily once again. He laughs loudly. "Well, I guess I won't tell you, but it will be by the time we get to your house and some real creeps come out at night."

I smile softly. "Thank you then."

When I turn to show him the smile, he looks back with one of his own. "Not a problem. I don't have to help at the steak house, so it's all good."

"Steak house?"

And the rest of the walk we actually have a civil conversation. I ask him why Akamaru is so quiet and Kiba tells me he has a cold and explains to me that no matter how sick his partner gets he will make sure to get him out of the house because he knows how terrible his sister, Hana, can get when she's trying to take care of someone. I laugh and begin to tell him about the time my mother tried to give me stitches.

"They got infected in the end and I had to go to the hospital, but it was a good try I suppose." I smile sheepishly when we finally make it to my apartment door.

He laughs, "You had pus and nasty stuff coming out of your arm and you think it was a good try!" He pats my head. "You are a very weird one."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" I smooth out my shirt, nervously and hating it. Why is Kiba making me so nervous now? Gaara never made me nervous and he kills people when he feels like it!

He smiles at me and I make note that he's only a little taller than I am. Why am I even thinking about this? Why do I care how tall he is compared to me? It makes no difference what so ever about anything, right?

"I think it's a good thing since everyone here has their little odd thing about them." His grin appears and I nearly melt into a puddle of goo.

I glare at him and turn to my door. "You should head home, Kiba."

I hear the whoosh of air that shoots into his mouth as he gapes. His teeth clatter so loudly when he snaps his mouth shut. I tense, ready for the yelling. My door swings open and my mother does not pop out. It takes all the courage I have stored up for so long to turn and look at Kiba.

I find something much worse than an angry nin-dog user. I find a confused pout. "Is this because of Shibire?"

I blink. "Who? Oh… No." Shaking my head, I whisper, "It has to do with a completely different thing Kiba. You wouldn't understand."

"'Wouldn't understand?'" He takes an angered step forward and in return I take a frightened step backward. "Hotaru! You don't get anything at all! Why is it so hard to just be friends with someone?"

I frown and plainly state, "Everyone has alternative motives."

He smacks his head. "I don't! Hotaru, you have the oddest personality I have ever met and it would be awesome to get to know you! Hang around with you! Like we did today. You're the first girl that doesn't care what she's eat, unless it's really unhealthy, but then sometimes you still eat it! And the first one to care about being a ninja more than something else!"

"You hated me before!" I rub my neck. "You're too confusing. I-I don't need friends. Friends only weaken you. You become emotional and never make the right decisions. I don't need this. Go… home."

He takes another step with mouth open to say something, but I scream, "Baka! Usero! USERO!"

Kiba stands there for a moment that stretches on for something that feels like an hour, before he speaks, "Fine. If you liked it better when I hated you... So. Be. It."

I don't let my eyes leave his face as it turns from hurt to pure fury. I give him a curt nod and shut the door, feeling, for the first time, very stupid.

* * *

><p>I don't know if I should say that time has moved too fast or too slow. It just seems to move as it usually does. Continuously.<p>

I have finally gotten used to the ways of Konoha and sadly none of the Sand Siblings have sent a letter. I'm not too surprised that Gaara has not, but it frightens me slightly that Kankuro or Temari has not. Yet, I have many things to distract me from that.

Naruto and I continue to visit the Hokage Mountain every Tuesday and Thursday. The Hokage tells us stories of times when he was a genin. Naruto seems to love these stories and continues to tell the "old man" that he's gonna take his place someday. I just take the lessons out of each of the stories.

Naruto, Kiba, and I still have to stay after most days because either Kiba and I fight or we don't do something right. We're always trying to hurt or get the other in trouble. Itachi-sensei only smiles at us all the time, for a reason I still have yet tried to figure out. I still can't help but sneak glances at Kiba and I hate myself for it. Naruto thinks were dating and we don't want anyone to know.

Though he is one to talk, because he finally got the brains to ask Hinata out on a date; though, she fainted when he did. And a little after the ramen shop visit, on their way home, Sasuke "grew some balls", according to Shika, and asked Sakura to be his girlfriend. I still don't see what he sees in the clingy loud mouth.

Shibire is turning out to be a very nice man. He seems to keep Tanzo at bay because now that he walks me to class I haven't had to deal with Tanzo anymore. Ino says it's probably because Shibire beat the shit out of Tanzo. I merely rolled my eyes at her and said, "Ino, he's a ninja. He has more control than that." She smacked her head along with Sakura, who was eavesdropping.

Lastly, my mother is actually making enough money that I don't have to help out at a store or anything. All the clans, including Sasuke and Hinata's, really do love to see themselves up on the wall.

Things in Konoha actually are a lot better than the first few days. I'm just scared that it won't last too long.

* * *

><p><strong>:3 So? Did that explain a lot? Are you mad at me? Cmon! Let it all out! XD<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey... I know this is so terribly late and you should totally kill me for it, but the last month of school was hell and I just didn't feel like writing at all. But I will try and get ahead in typing and everything, so I won't be this late again! And maybe I might be able to update twice a month? How does that sound? XD**

**A little note before you START READING: **

**Anything in () is my beta and I making comments. I thought it would be a little treat to give you guys the comments we make about the chapter... and if you like them I might just keep them in all the chapters. :D**

**Then anything in _italics _is a flashforward. Regular text is a flashback. Hotaru is thinking about the months before what's happening now (_italics_).**

**I hope it isn't too confusing as you get farther in the chapter. I will do my best to get the next chapter up on time because I don't really have any excuses to be late. So until then!**

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><p>It was Tuesday. Naruto was talking about Hinata and his date later that week. The Hokage was smiling. I was the only gloomy one. I couldn't get over the fact that I have been thinking of Shibire more than I was Gaara. 'What happened to the dreams I had with Gaara? We were going to figure out a way to suppress the dreams he had because of the sand spirit. Now it just doesn't seem like it matters at all. Just Shibire.'<p>

"Hotaru?" Naruto poked my shoulder. "We need to go if we're not going to be late." I nodded distractedly and slipped my bag onto my shoulder.

We walked in unusual silence, but it was no surprise Naruto broke it. "Alright! Out with it, Hotaru!" He stepped in front of me. I looked up and I felt my heart clench. His concerned eyes looked just like Kiba's.

* * *

><p><em>No matter how much I struggle, he won't let go. No matter how bruised my wrists become, he won't let go. No matter how much I scream 'no,' he won't let go.<em>

* * *

><p>I huffed, "Naruto, I am fine." I tried to move passed him. He moved in the way.<p>

"In this movie I watched… Can't remember what it was called, but whatever! Fine means frantic, insecure, neurotic, eccentric…. Or something, so spill!" Naruto crossed his arms and raised a brow.

I shook my head, moving faster this time and successfully getting around him. "It's none of your concern, Naruto. I can take care of my own problems."

Before the other boys can be in earshot, Naruto grumbled, "You can depend on us. We can help you when you can't get yourself out of something."

* * *

><p><em>"Get off her, you bastard!"<em>

_I never thought I would be so glad to hear that snarl._

_"Hotaru, I have you."_

_I never thought I would cry in front of them._

_"Take her home, Naruto."_

_I never thought I would look over to Kiba and give him my smile._

_He drapes a blanket over me._

* * *

><p>"Chip, Hotaru?" I heard Chouji ask. I only shook my head to politely refuse.<p>

Kiba grabbed my arm roughly with one hand and the other squeezed my cheeks, tilting my chin to look up at him. He raised an eyebrow before speaking, "C'mon, I may not know you all that well because you give me the cold shoulder, but you have never refused one of Chouji's chips."

"My shoulder is not cold. I have my winter coat on." I muttered out of my fish lips that Kiba created.

He smirked slowly. "Right, right. You don't speak normal. You've been ignoring us, but I still know something is bothering you."

I scowled and tried to pull away. "Why does everyone care about what is on my mind?"

"Because we care, troublesome woman."

I blinked. "Care?"

* * *

><p><em>Sobbing hurts so much more than I thought it ever would. Tissues create giant white mountains next to my bed. I think Kiba or Naruto or maybe even my mother threw them out. Probably Kiba. He's stayed the closest to me, ironically. It's crazy that just months ago Kiba was trying to kill me or something like that. Yet, things have been changing rapidly lately.<em>

* * *

><p>I sighed, "Really, nothing is wrong. I just have a lot on my mind."<p>

Sakura appeared out of nowhere and flashes a smirk from Sasuke's arm. "That usually means someone is thinking about a boy!"

I hated how sing-song her voice became when my blush appeared half way through her statement. "Does is really concern you all that much, Sakura?" I snapped.

The whole road went quiet. I couldn't even hear Chouji's chewing. I slowly looked over to Sakura. Her face had become something that resembled a dark magenta and I saw a gleam in her eyes that I haven't witnessed before.

When she yelled, I felt the ground shake, along with the boys. "Why can't you just take help like a normal human being? It's not a bad thing to talk about who you like _or_ a guy you hate. Every girl that I have ever met doesn't have that problem like you! You're so goddamn stupid, Hotaru!"

By the end of her rant, she was standing in front of me and the boys were on either side of us, creating two rows. They looked terrified. It took me a moment to realize that she wasn't going to fly through space to hit me, beginning a fight she would lose. At least she has some sense. "I feel that it is meaningless to talk so much about a boy. Shouldn't you be focusing on your studies?"

"See!" she screeched. "That's what I can't stand! What is up with you and all this studying? You're almost as smart as Shika, so you don't need to study!"

"I need to train," I stated simply, but this seemed to make the pot burst into flames.

Yet, before Sakura could even move, Sasuke was kissing her and Kiba was pulling me in some random direction with Naruto trailing behind. "Hotaru! You don't piss off Sakura-chan! She has the biggest temper in the world!"

I pulled my arm sharply from Kiba. He rolled his eyes. "Naruto, she needs to learn how to control her temper or she will never be a good kunoichi."

"It doesn't matter if she can control it or not! Hotaru, you can't just fuel the flames like that!" Kiba pleaded. I frowned at the worry in his eyes.

I sighed, "Kiba, stop worrying. It's not like she can hurt me."

Both shook their heads as we entered the gates to school.

'_Why does it seem like everyone is worrying about me? Do they __find__ me incapable of watching my own back or make-'_

"Hotaru?"

I spun around at the deep voice, letting out a soft sigh when I recognized the boy. "My knight."

He flashed his teeth when his lips pulled back in a smile. "How's it going kid?"

Kiba snorted in something that I thought was disgust and Naruto disappeared to find Hinata before class. I smiled back at Shibire. "It is going well; though, I believe Sakura is mad at me now."

"What did you do?" He laughed, leaning on the locker next to mine.

I opened my locker easily. "She wants to talk about the boys that are on my mind. I told her she should be focusing on her studies. She became 'pissed,' as Kiba would say," I sighed, closing the locker quietly. When I looked up at him, he is gazing down at me with an emotion that I could not place. I gulped, becoming very nervous. "Shibire?"

"Hm? Oh sorry. Spaced out for a second. But I would be careful around Sakura. I know she seems pretty soft, but she can become heartless in a matter of moments."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. I will try to not make Sakura irate."

He leaned down. I blinked, wondering why he would need to come closer since I could understand him perfectly fine from where he was until his lips pressed against my cheek. Flames lit in my cheeks as he straightened up. Shibire chuckled when he saw the red. "Kami, you are so cute."

I could not articulate anything that even resembled a sentence as he walked to his class.

The bell rung and my eyes widen. "Late!" I moved so quickly that I don't think anyone that was later could have seen me race by them.

Ino raised an eyebrow when I appeared in the vacant seat next to her. "Does running take that much out of you? Geez, you're-! You're blushing!" She began to giggle and Sakura turned around. "Omigod! **(Shoot me now for even typing that…)(Bang!) **You have to tell me what happened with Shibire!"

I stare and stare, blinking at her. How does she know?

Yet, before I could voice my question she explained, "I see how you two look at each other! It's like a love story! I bet he's going to ask you out! OH! Sakura, Hinata, and me can so help you out! You definitely have to flaunt your goods when you're on the date! Oh all the things I can do with your hair…"

The boys, the stupid grinning Naruto, the scowling Kiba, and the smirking Sasuke, popped up behind us to listen in. Shino was reading, Shikamaru was sleeping, and Chouji was still eating. At least I know not all of the boys are here to gossip like the girls. Well, maybe just Shino since Shikamaru would have been too lazy to listen and food was always more important to Chouji.

"Oh c'mon, Hotaru! Out with it! Is that what you were thinking about this morning?" Naruto breathed down my neck. I bopped his head and he recoiled. He moved closer to Hinata. My eyes narrowed when he took her hand. I looked to Sasuke and found him sitting on the desk behind Sakura. His arms around her shoulders and his chin propped on her head. When my eyes landed on Kiba, I found his dark eyes staring back at me. It unnerved me how he seemed to stare through me with simmering anger.

What did he want me to say? That Shibire didn't make my heart race back then? That I was in love with him? He was never that nice to me… Why would I love him for that…?

"Shibire kissed my cheek," I grumbled, turning to glare at Ino. "Are you content with this information?"

The whole group looked completely disappointed–except Kiba–and hung their heads. "What was it? You blushed that much because of a kiss on the cheek?" Ino shook her head.

Kiba whispered in my ear with a sly grin, I just knew he was, "I wonder how red you'll get when he shows you his dick." **(That was unexpected. I lol'd)**

My eyes widened comically and my head whipped around to glare at him. "How could you even think about saying something that vulgar? Especially… about Shibire. He would never…" I trailed off, half hating myself for actually remembering what "dick" meant.

He shrugged and moved back to his desk when Kakashi-sensei decided to show up.

I didn't see Shibire again until my walk to the gym. He tried to sneak up on me, but this time I am paying attention and caught him right before he would have gotten me. He gave me a proud grin. "Damn, you are as good as they say."

I shook my head. "I'm pretty sure it's because you were too obvious with your movements."

"Are you telling me that I suck at sneaking?"

Grinning to myself because I actually knew in this sentence suck does not have its usual meaning, I nodded my head. "I said it in the nicest way possible."

He actually started laughing at my very lame joke. "Well, I'm glad you're trying to be nice." He looked at the clock. He quickly leaned down for the second time that day to kiss me, but this time he kissed my forehead. "Can I talk to you after class?"

I just gave him one nod, blushing too much to say anything. I slipped into the locker room without a sound, drifting to my locker to put on my training clothes. I made sure to keep my hair in my face as long as I could, so the girls wouldn't see my blush once more.

Hinata stood next to me, nervously as she usually is. "H-he talks a-about you a l-lot."

"Who?" I began to twirl my hair into a bun.

"Naruto-kun." She didn't stutter, so I raised an eyebrow when I looked at her.

I felt everyone's eyes land on me. I knew they were not happy gazes. "We talk to the Hokage on Tuesday and Thursday. Is it so bad that he talks about me?"

Sakura opened her mouth to say something, but Ino elbowed her side and she let out a squeak. Hinata spoke instead, "Oh-oh, I guess it-it isn't too bad."

With a curt nod, I exited to the gym, praying that my week long streak of not seeing Tanzo would continue. It did, thankfully, and I saw Shibire walk out instead.

It seemed that every time I saw him, he became better looking each time. Sometimes his dark eyes seemed so bright with happiness that it just made my heart skip. The other times his shirt was tighter than usual and I couldn't help, but thank Kami for shinobi training.

Though before Shibire could notice I'm watching, Kiba had me by my waist. I couldn't believe he could pick me up so easily! My waist at his shoulder… "I told you, he's too old for you."

"I told _you_ that there is no need to worry about him or I. He is an excellent student and shinobi as well as I am. We fit."

Kiba dropped me down on the bottom bleacher with no regard to how hard the bleachers are. He stared down at me with his usual scowl. "Will school help him when he's on a mission?" I tried to interrupt, but he continued. "Just because he does well here does not mean he's the good guy! There are a lot of evil geniuses out there! And...!" He took a step closer, tipping my chin higher as I glared at him. He has no right to put Shibire down like that! "...He could like to drink, and I think you know how that is." Kiba had the audacity to give me a pointed look.

I stood quickly, my chest brushing his. "Shut up! I don't need to hear this… this shit from you!" His eyes flashed when I screamed. Naruto watched in the background along with Itachi-sensei. It made me feel like they've finally gotten tired of our spats.

He gripped my cheeks just like he did this morning, but this time Kiba turned my head roughly to the side, so he could whisper in my ear, "For your sake and mine I really hope this ignorance of yours doesn't get you killed… or worse." The dog-nin showed me how dark his eyes could truly be; a never ending abyss of a heartlessness that I would not witness until a couple months in the future… and not even towards myself. He shoved me back down into the hard bleachers, before stalking off to the weight room. I stared at his back as he left, and for the first time I agreed with him. Too many people get hurt when someone else is drunk.

The rest of the time we spent in the weight room, Itachi-sensei was talking about the different types of weapons a shinobi could use. I had heard this all before, since Suna's ninja program is weapon-based. Yet, if I had not known any of this I wouldn't have listened. I knew I should have been thinking about the rare wise words Kiba gave me, but I couldn't get Shibire's face, or his body for that matter, out of my head. I kept imagining running my hands through his light brown hair or that he just needed to take his shirt off in front of me… Stupid, weak thoughts! Thoughts that are for civilians or Sakura, not that there is much difference between the two **(Talk about a burn…)****(Someone get the ointment!)**.

"Hotaru?"

I jumped at my name. Itachi-sensei raised a thin black eyebrow at my inattention. I blushed. "Sorry… I was thinking…" I trailed off, hanging my head.

"Hotaru…" he breathed a sigh. "You really need to collect your thoughts. I hate seeing you so distracted. Now, go back to the locker rooms. Class is over with for today."

With my head still hanging, I slinked off to the locker rooms in shame. How could I think about Shibire for a whole class period? How am I supposed to be a good kunoichi if I can't focus?

I walked out of the locker rooms, my sole intention to go and train, but Shibire caught my arm. "Trying to run away from me now?"

My whole face turned scarlet when I remembered what I had been thinking about him. "Wha-what? No. Of course not… I just have to train."

"Awe, c'mon Hotaru. All you ever do is train." Shibire began to walk me to my locker. How nice of him… "You should take some time to relax. Have you been to any of the restaurants here yet?"

"No," I answered gloomily as I opened my locker.

"Why don't you come to one of them with me?"

I froze. "What?" I looked up at him.

I caught a glimpse of Kiba behind him. Maybe there was some other people with Kiba, but I didn't notice them.

"One of the restaurants. Would you like to go on a date with me there?" I saw Shibire's teeth, but I didn't understand what was going on. All I could see was Kiba's face contorting with rage.

Why did I leave Suna again?

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><p><strong>I know that chapter was short, but I had to give you guys something quickly. I hope you like it still. :D<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**I know I said I was going to try and get to chapters out this month, but... a family crisis hit and I had no will to write at all. I've had this chapter for the whole month and I just didn't feel like posting either. I know, kill me. I am hoping that on the vacation I will be having soon, I'll write in the car. School is a month away and I'm hoping that that will help a little bit.**

**Shoutouts to the Anon and Givesyouhell5589 that reviewed last chapter. You guys are very kind. XD I hope I can get your wish next month Givesyouhell (awesome song :3), but if I don't... I'll keep trying.**

**This chapter is also a flashback that is why it's in past tense. Next chapter will be in present tense and a little steamy... I might have to change the rating if I feel like I need to get in detail, but I'm pretty sure you all know what goes down. Which is the point. I felt like going Romeo and Juliet on you guys. XD**

**Keep a look out for the Author/Beta notes... I feel silly keeping them in, but they always make me laugh. Until next chapter!**

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><p>I stared up at Sakura as her tongue slipped out of her mouth. I believed she had fun causing this stupid and unnecessary pain.<p>

My latest wince made Sakura's lip twitch upward. Though before my anger could spill out of my pursed lips, Ino came in with the bottle of hair glue or spray or some kind of beauty product I had only seen my okasan and this pair of girls use. "If he doesn't fall over when he sees you, I don't know what kind of animal he is."

"Ino, he is homo sapien no matter if he falls over or not," I grumbled and winced when Sakura pulled another hair from my brow.

I witnessed Sakura roll her eyes and I assumed that Ino did the same when I heard her tone. "Hotaru, none of this smart business when you're with him. Boys hate it when their egos are bruised or a girl shows 'em up. It's the testosterone."

My mother doesn't even notice me as I step into the kitchen. Kiba is cooking breakfast shirtless again.

How many days has it been since the attack? It seems so cliché that the days feel like months now, but soon I have to go back to school and I am glad that it seems like months.

"Pancake, Hotaru?"

Sometimes I wish I had the Kiba that was around months ago. The one that teased, that got angry at everything, that got jealous. The one that didn't make my chest ache.

It was Friday. The day I had told Shibire I was free. The day after Ino tricked me to go and get ice cream with her, so Naruto and Sasuke could steal my weapons and anything else I would need. My binding tape was among the things they hid in the Uchiha compound. I did not find, at the time, that it was worth my time to go looking for all of the equipment.

When Ino and Sakura pulled the yellow dress over my head, I wish I had. The straps could have only been an inch wide. They widened to cover my chest, that felt so tight and I wondered if that was a good thing or not, but it still did not cover enough. My kunoichi outfits don't even show that much skin from my chest.

"Hotaru, stop fiddling with that! Do you want to flash Shibire at the table?" Sakura growled as she tied a ribbon. Ino had explained what flashing was after Tanzo said I should flash him.

Ino told her to tie it under my already huge bosom. "It will make them look bigger and your legs longer! Very sexy," she said before she left.

I resented the fact that Ino left her make up at home and felt that my look would never be complete without some gross slime plastered to my face.

Sakura broke into my thoughts. "I see how you look at my Sasuke-kun."

The need to punch her face and laugh in it were tied, so I stayed quiet until a laugh escaped my trained lips instead of an easy snap of my arm.

She glared at me through the mirror. "Don't laugh! I know it's true, bitch."

"Are you stupid? I do not love Sasuke! I'm in love with-" I cut myself short, leaving the sentence hanging stagnantly in the air. Who did I love?

"Okay, okay. I have- What is going on between you two?" Ino frowned at Sakura and she scowled at me.

When neither of us answered, she went to work smearing terrible smelling gels and powder on my face.

Once she was done she stepped away to examine her work. Ino only grinned. I wondered if Sakura was jealous.

Kiba is on the floor again and Naruto is with Hinata. I am on the couch. My hands are running through his hair. All is quiet.

Then my mother walks in with Sakura and Ino. All of them are laughing and talking, breaking the silence Kiba and I built with nothing.

When they see us, we are frozen in our perfect world.

"Well, isn't this cute!" My okasan laughs happily. She loves Kiba. She paints him all the time. He always gets an arrogant grin on his face when he sees the finished product. I always stand back and compare the painting. The real Kiba always looks better. Paintings are too still and pristine to be anything like him.

When Sakura and I meet eyes, gray and green eyes glow with deadly intent and guilt. It was her party.

I was made to sit on my couch as I waited for Shibire to knock on my door and whisk me away. Sakura and Ino were watching the TV and talking about the latest gossip. I was watching the sky for an excuse to rip off this uncomfortable dress, smear all of this makeup, and put my hair up, forgetting about the curls.

But the loud, solid thud of someone knocking on the door traveled through the air, making two grin and the other shudder.

Why did this feel like the end of something?

Ino pulled me off of the comfortable seat I had and brought me to the door. He knocked again. "Smile for him, Hotaru!" she snapped. I smiled.

When he saw me after Ino peeled back the door, being extra slow to cause suspense, I thought he would fall. Ino seemed disappointed. I didn't care to look back at Sakura.

"Hotaru."

And I was his.

When we arrived at the steak house, I thought that I swallowed my heart along with some kicking butterflies.

Shibire didn't even notice or was too intent on keeping me at his side to care how wide my eyes had become or where my heart actually was.

It got even worse when I met eyes with Kiba, our host. I didn't know his expression could turn so dark. He looked at Shibire's eyes and then at his hand around my waist and back to my eyes. I couldn't help but feel so guilty.

I wanted to speak up to him when he was leading Shibire and I to our table, but what would I say to him?

"_Kiba! I know __we're__ teammates and I feel so bad! This was a horrible idea, but it wasn't mine at all! It's all Shibire's fault!" _

"_Listen, Kiba, I'm sorry. I never thought when Ino and Sakura forced me into this date that he would pick your restaurant!"_

"_Shibire, I'm sorry, but we can't eat here. The boy who has been teasing me relentlessly since we had a fight a while ago is the son of the owner. It just wouldn't be right eating here."_

I was awoken from my thoughts when Shibire kissed my head. "Hotaru… I pulled the chair out for you. You're supposed to sit in it now," he spoke to me like I didn't know anything. When I sat down, I noticed how white Kiba's knuckles had become. I wondered if it was from Shibire's gesture or how he spoke to me.

The rest of the night was calm, pleasant. Kiba's sister, Hana, was our waitress.

I had met her when I had to go over to Kiba's house for a bonding exercise Itachi-sensei gave us. I also met his mother. Both women I loved right away. They were nothing like Sakura and Ino, so I took a quick liking to them. Kiba hated that and his mother scolded him for being so rude to me lately. I ate dinner at his house and actually had some fun.

The food was wonderful as I had expected it to be. Yet, it didn't taste right without laughter. Shibire continuously talked about the chunin exams. I know they were important, but wasn't this a date to get those things off my mind? I guess he just wanted to talk about himself, so I didn't stop him.

Though as he talked, I couldn't stop watching Kiba guide customers to their seats. His hair was still messy as always and it was funny to watch whenever Hana appeared out of nowhere and licked her hand to smooth out his hair. He would always scowl as he swatted her hand away. His clothes were another story all together. They were cleanly ironed and his tie was perfect. Many girls would stare at Kiba as he walked away. I wondered if it was normal to do that because I felt incredibly stupid watching my teammate walk around, being wonderful to customers.

The movie Shibire took me to was not all that interesting. It was about a boy who met a girl just before she was moving to the other side of the country. She vowed to write him every day and he vowed the same. It showed how they changed over time. Though in the end they moved back to their hometown and lived happily ever after. It was a stupid movie.

Shibire tried to kiss me when I was opening my door, but my mother yelled at him before he could and I was happy only because I was nervous. I've never been kissed before.

I also wondered what was so good about it. I vowed never to ask Sakura or Ino about it.

About two weeks later, there was a sunny day that Shibire thought it would be great to take me away from my homework, that wasn't due until two weeks later, and take me on a picnic. I remembered Ino giggling behind her hand and Sakura leaning into Sasuke's chest as she mumbled something into his throat. I didn't care enough to listen.

He had brought food from his mother, who apparently adored me at the time. It was pleasant to sit and watch the vast blue sky as we ate slowly and talked happily. It was something I was used to by then. He and I would talk in the hallways when we could. I didn't know he was so intelligent. It was a relief to talk to someone who didn't fall asleep or call you troublesome… or was reading a porn book or ordering us to run faster on the treadmill.

The experience that made the date both nerve wracking and exhilarating was the kiss.

He said that I had some rice on my cheek. I had no idea he was lying to me. He was very good at it… or I wasn't paying attention, but either way I leaned closer to him. He gave me a huge smile and instead of him picking off the grain his lips smashed against mine.

My mouth opened in a gasp, which he only chuckled at before pinching my lip in between his incisors. How the pain felt good, I don't have a single clue and for once I don't even care. His lips were warmed and tasted salty from the soy sauce, but I couldn't complain because mine probably were worse. They were a bit chapped, but it made sense to me since I almost always saw him lick his lips **(Oh my geez! HINT. I feel clever. XD) ****(Is that like kissing wet sand paper?)**. When I returned the favor, he made this low rumbling noise that almost sounded like a growl.

I never noticed how large his hands were until he grasped my hips and shoved me into his lap. I gasped again, but this time instead of pinching my lip again he shoved his tongue in my mouth. I sputter and pulled him away.

"What was that?" I squeaked. Then all my senses came crashing down on me. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears and feel it in my stomach. I felt hot all over even though there was a breeze. My lips felt bruised, but instead of minding it I welcomed it.

Shibire had this look of awe that reached all the way to his eyes. It was wonderful to sit and stare at him for a couple of moments, but he cut it off when he barely touched his lips to mine and pulled back. "You're a good kisser, Hotaru."

Now what was that supposed to mean?

Sadly, my okasan had invited Ino, Hinata, and Sakura to stop by after the date. They "awed" so much when Shibire dropped me off I thought my face was a fireball.

Then Sakura wanted to have a party for all of us, a bash of some sort, whatever that is. She grudgingly let Ino convince her that I could help.

Party planning is actually very fun. I was able to go around to each person that Sakura said was coming to the party for sure to ask them what their favorite songs were and then after I had done all of the research I got to calculate which songs would be played more. Also what order they would be in, which was the hardest part of my job because I didn't like any of the songs. I was in charge of making sure we stayed in budget. I did a very good job, obviously. I think Sakura was finally glad that I was helping, but she didn't like it when I talked to Sasuke at lunch or at the ramen shop.

Now, the party just has to happen.

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><p><strong>So there you have it! :D Would any of you want Hotaru as your weddingparty planner? XD I might... she's so good at money. O.o**

**OH! And now that I can have a book cover for this, if any of you think you have a picture review a link or PM me! :D I will put each of them up for others to see and we can vote or something on the best one. :D**


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